Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Signs for COP26 in Glasgow city centre in Scotland. PA

'Cautiously optimistic': Are Irish people going to COP26 feeling hopeful about the summit?

We asked some of the Irish people heading to Glasgow: Are you feeling hopeful going into COP26?

TODAY WAS THE second day of COP26 – a conference where thousands of people from almost every country in the world have gathered to discuss climate action.

Alongside governments and key negotiators, there are a lot of people involved in the climate sphere who head along to the annual UN summit to attend events and participate in the proceedings.

Ahead of the all-important outcome in less than two weeks that will lead us to the next stage of the world’s action on climate change, we spoke to a few of the Irish people attending this year’s summit to ask: Are you hopeful going into COP26?

Here’s what they said. 

Sadhbh O’Neill, climate researcher at Dublin City University. 

“I can’t help but – just because you’ve asked that question – remember what Greta Thunberg said. I am not so much going with sense of hope, but a sense of panic. And I think panic is the right emotion,” O’Neill said. 

She said that it’s important to remember, however, that COP26 is not the “last moment” for climate action. 

“There will be many moments after this and many further decisions and COPs will be required to get things under control.

“With the understanding we have of climate science, with all the warnings we just got from the IPCC – this should be the moment when global emissions are peaking and everybody is co-operating in driving the emissions down so that we get as close as possible to net-zero emissions as soon as possible. 

So rather than hope, I’m thinking panic.

climate-cop26-summit Greta Thuberg at a climate protest in Glasgow today. SCOTT HEPPELL SCOTT HEPPELL

Seán McCabe, Executive Manager at the TASC Climate Justice Centre

McCabe said he is “not particularly” hopeful for this COP summit for a number of reasons.

“It’s not the COP itself, but one thing that has really shook my confidence in the multi-lateral process giving an outcome has been a failure to address vaccine inequality.

“A vaccine is so much easier to roll out globally than climate action, so that really does fill me with concern,” he said, referring to the unequal distribution of Covid-19 vaccines in different parts of the world.

McCabe described this disparity as a “litmus test for the climate crisis”. 

“Our leaders have to get real very quickly – we’re not on track,” he said. 

“But one thing that does give me hope is that there is greater attention than ever before. 

“I’ve been going to COP for a long time and I’ve never seen any kind of focus like this, not even at Paris [in 2015].

I think the pandemic has made people more aware of what happens when our natural system begins to break down a little bit.

“Catastrophes can happen on a global scale, and I think it’s made climate change more real for people.” 

Dr Diarmuid Torney, associate professor in school of law and government in Dublin City University

“The mood music isn’t great going into COP,” Torney said. 

“There’s been a number of key players distracted – the big political difficulties in the US, the fishing disputes between France and the UK, fines on Poland.

There’s a lot going on to distract world leaders.

Torney also said the fact the process is being “steered by the government of Boris Johnson” doesn’t give him a “huge degree of confidence”.

“Those are all reasons not to be particularly hopeful, but nonetheless it’s the big political moment for climate change and it’s an opportunity to shine a light on climate change.

He said it offers an opportunity for media to “generate more awareness” around climate change and for people to “hold their governments to account for the promises in the Paris Agreement”.

cop26-glasgow Boris Johnson arriving at the COP26 summit today. PA PA

Professor Brian Ó Gallachoir, professor of energy engineering at University College Cork

Ó Gallachoir said he is “fundamentally” optimistic going into this COP.

“When you think of who’s going to be there, it’s the key decision makers in the world coming together to work out how we’re going to address this challenge. What we really need is political leadership,” he said. 

He said changes in recent years such as the election of US president Joe Biden has “led to a different atmosphere, a different tone regarding the conversations on climate change and what to do about it”.

“The other part of that is that we’ve seen countries effectively putting each other under peer pressure to up their game.”

He is hopeful about ambition from large emitting countries, but said this ambition is “still not enough”. 

What I’m saying doesn’t take away from the fact that globally, emissions are rebounding from a slight reduction during the Covid pandemic.

“So when I say i’m hopeful, the ambition piece is very important, but of course we need to see that ambition translate into action.”

Mair Kelly, activist 

“I’m hopeful, but also very apprehensive,” Kelly said. 

“I know it’s very easy to get carried away with these big events… and I know how difficult it is to get something tangible from these things,” she said, adding that she is hopeful about many other elements of the conference itself. 

“I hope that the voices that really need to be heard will be heard, especially those from the most affected areas and I hope that people are listening and taking on board these voices. 

I really hope that people put forward a strong message of the importance of climate justice and a just transition and how we must bring everyone together for it. 

Marion Briggs, chairperson of Friends of the Earth Ireland

“I am cautiously optimistic,” Briggs said.

“I think that there’s a lot of momentum and focus on this COP to really set us on a better trajectory for the next decade.

However, there’s not a clear-cut outcome. In some areas, we’ll feel more successful than others and we’ll undoubtedly hear both narratives on the other end that this has been a great success, and that it has been an utter failure.

“It will be, no pun intended, a temperature gauge for how committed the world is to tackling the crisis that we’re facing.” 

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
11 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute ☘
    Favourite ☘
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 9:46 AM

    people can move all around ireland with guns and drugs and i bet if i drove one day without road tax i would be in court,

    382
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ed Collins
    Favourite Ed Collins
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 9:50 AM

    @☘: and rightly so

    129
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute The long walk home☘️
    Favourite The long walk home☘️
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 10:01 AM

    @Ed Collins: who is giving you thumbs up , have you 17 accounts? people really believe it should be easier move around Ireland with guns than a dodgy tax disc. No wonder we’re screwed

    118
    See 9 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute STOIC SAVAGE
    Favourite STOIC SAVAGE
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 10:03 AM

    @The long walk home☘️: no one said that though??

    43
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mjhint
    Favourite Mjhint
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 10:08 AM

    @Ed Collins: shows where your priorities lie. We have a traffic corpin Ireland with poor resources to serious crime all the way up to the prison service & road tax is yours and the government’s priority. Orwell described you well. No louder voice to be heard defending an oppressor than that of the oppressed. It’s people like you who have the country and its people on it’s knees.

    47
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute The long walk home☘️
    Favourite The long walk home☘️
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 10:19 AM

    @STOIC SAVAGE: that was his point or did it go way over your head?

    16
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Tommy Roche
    Favourite Tommy Roche
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 10:49 AM

    @☘: In fairness, it’s far easier to spot an untaxed car than it is to spot a car carrying guns or drugs. And just as an aside, if you end up in court for driving an untaxed car, it means your tax has been out of date for a hell of a lot longer than one day. You have one month from expiry date of your motor tax to get it renewed. Its written on your renewal notice. Go into a second month untaxed and you pay a penalty when you finally do tax it, and you may get an on the spot fine. 3rd month you’d certainly get a fine and theres a risk the car could be impounded. Purely anecdotal, but from what I’ve seen/heard you’d really need to be taking the mick to end up in court for non-payment of motor tax alone, ie, expired for a year or more.

    34
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jesse James
    Favourite Jesse James
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 10:59 AM

    @Mjhint: We don’t have Traffic Gardai in Ireland. They are regular Gardai in cars marked Roads Policing.

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul
    Favourite Paul
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 11:33 AM

    @Jesse James: incorrect. We have a dedicated Roads Policing Unit, they are appointed to those units and are no longer on the regular units.

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute my name
    Favourite my name
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 11:36 AM
    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute STOIC SAVAGE
    Favourite STOIC SAVAGE
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 11:59 AM

    @The long walk home☘️: nah…. His point was both are illegal and rightly punishable by law… Think it was your head it went over pal

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Thomas Maher
    Favourite Thomas Maher
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 12:12 PM

    @☘: they dont drive around with guns taped to the windscreen theyre a bit harder to spot than the lack of a tax disc

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute The long walk home☘️
    Favourite The long walk home☘️
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 9:54 AM

    life should mean life, some of these people are out after 11 years still young men.

    115
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute MickN
    Favourite MickN
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 10:12 AM

    Another week another tragedy in Louth.. For the size of the county its never out of the news…

    55
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Conor V
    Favourite Conor V
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 10:39 AM

    @MickN: it’s a bid County :)

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Leo Lalor
    Favourite Leo Lalor
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 11:46 AM

    How long is this feud going on. Like the kinehan hutch feud and it appears all the gardai are capable of is hiding on motorways catching you at 125 kph. Traffic corps are a waste of resource for the public. Fianna Gael love them . Revenue collection

    53
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Michael Kavanagh
    Favourite Michael Kavanagh
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 11:58 AM

    @Leo Lalor:
    The auld penalty points mounting up, are they? Try a simple solution – obey the rules of the road- it works!

    43
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Joe & Bridie
    Favourite John Joe & Bridie
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 11:58 AM

    @Leo Lalor: Yawn

    26
    See 2 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Eamonn Ó Maoldomhnaigh
    Favourite Eamonn Ó Maoldomhnaigh
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 12:54 PM

    @Leo Lalor: A good few of the Hutch/ Kinehan murders have been solved but don’t let that stop your bit of Garda bashing.

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Seaniecp
    Favourite Seaniecp
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 1:37 PM

    @Leo Lalor: I’m sure more people die on the roads each year then to gangland violance. Maybe I’m wrong.

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Think Before You Buy
    Favourite Think Before You Buy
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 1:06 PM

    The violence, not just in Louth, but across the country is directly related to the vast amount of money generated through using drugs for recreational purposes. It is for control of the area in which this money is spent that these gangs are fighting to control. Remember it always harms someone THINK BEFORE YOU BUY http://www.thinkbeforeyoubuy.ie

    28
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute aYoungRory
    Favourite aYoungRory
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 2:04 PM

    I’m calling for a head banger hunger games this year.
    Let every wannabe lunatic in Ireland meet up in Longford on December 8th when it’s empty for Culchie Christmas…. No holds barred, no innocents hurt and less than 2k damage done. We can hold a mass funeral at 12 midnight for the fallen and crown the last standing survivor ‘Hardest Man in Ireland’.

    Danny Dyer can present the trophy to him moments before we fire both men into the surface of the moon.

    Then we take the homes of the losers and redistribute them to the homeless.

    19
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Maciej Zadorozny
    Favourite Maciej Zadorozny
    Report
    Aug 28th 2019, 1:18 PM
    4
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a commentcancel

 
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds