COP31 climate change conference underway in Turkey - UN comments

Shane Colman (0:00)

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SPEAKER_2 (0:05)

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Shane Colman (0:08)

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Ciarán Cuffe (0:16)

Not always.

Shane Colman (0:17)

I was 6'10 once. Seven days delivered or returned, Mr. Shaq?

Ciarán Cuffe (0:21)

Not that I would.

SPEAKER_2 (0:22)

You never do.

Shane Colman (0:23)

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Ciarán Cuffe (0:27)

Delivery fees may apply.

Shane Colman (0:28)

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SPEAKER_2 (0:30)

The Hard Shoulder with Ciara Kelly and Shane Colman on Newstalk with Ciarán.

Shane Colman (0:38)

Now, the UN has warned the world has entered a new age of climate extremes. This warning came as COP31 Climate Change Conference got underway in Turkey today. We're joined by Ciarán Cuffe, former MVP and co-chair of the European Green Party.

Ciarán, COP31, are you optimistic it can change things?

Ciarán Cuffe (1:01)

Look, I'm always hopeful.

I'm not overly optimistic. I think over the last two or three years, you've seen a pushback from governments around the world against climate action. We've had the guy in the White House saying that climate change doesn't exist. But more concerningly in Europe, you've seen a pushback by some countries and some political parties against the level of action that we need. And at the same time, we're seeing these weather extremes.

I was down in Barcelona at a conference a few days ago, and they had five months of hell where the temperature was crazily hot all summer long. Now, you get warm weather in Barcelona, but this was weather that they hadn't seen before. So I am worried, and I do see a pushback.

On things like in electrifying our power, things like the phase out of petrol and diesel cars. And I don't see the ambition that's needed. Closer to home in Dublin or in Ireland, I think we should be really pushing ahead with bus connects and with public transport all around the country. And that's not happening at the pace that's required. We're seeing a pushback on the nitrates directive. We're seeing a pushback on limits to the amount of flights out of Dublin airport. So even though our greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland will fall, they're not going to fall at the rate that we were hoping they would.

Shane Colman (2:36)

You mentioned the pushback in Ireland. I mean, it is quite noticeable that even the coverage of COP 31 is less than in previous years, less than at previous conferences.

Ciarán Cuffe (2:48)

I think people are a bit punch drunk.

They're just weary of headlines saying the planet is imperiled. They're weary of hearing about the extinction of species.

And perhaps they feel a little bit powerless. But I would always say that, look, there is a role for governments and for institutions like the European Union to take action. But I also think we can take action ourselves in choosing how we get around, in choosing the kind of heating we have in our home. But it also requires help from government. So the kind of grants that might be available for retrofitting, the kind of level of ambitions, of ambition for upgrading local authority housing, that's where we really need to see the Irish government take action. And I just worry that there might be a gap between the rhetoric that we'll hear from Irish ministers in Turkey and the scale of action that's needed in Ireland.

Shane Colman (3:51)

Ireland, of course, will be leading negotiations for Europe at this COP because of the EU presidency.

Are we the right people to do that, given our own track record? Have we credibility in that area?

Ciarán Cuffe (4:08)

Well, I think Minister Dara O'Brien is saying that Ireland can lead. But if you look at the facts, we were promised ocean wind energy over a decade ago, and we haven't seen any increase in the rollout there.

We were promised that we would tackle greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector. And we have great plans on paper. We have Bus Connects, we have a Lewis for Cork, a Lewis for Galway. And yet, we're talking about ring roads. We're talking about really the kind of projects that aren't going to help us in terms of decreasing our greenhouse gas emissions. So I think there is a contradiction in Irish government policy at the moment. And I think there is a lack of momentum.