Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has pledged a contribution of €25 million to the new Loss and Damage Fund for 2024 and 2025 from Ireland.
He made this pledge while delivering the national statement of Ireland at the 28th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Expo City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The establishment of a global Loss and Damage Fund was agreed at COP27 in Egypt last year, making it the first United Nations (UN) fund dedicated to addressing climate-driven damage.
In the national statement, Varadkar said: “We cannot prevent climate change, we’re well past that point, but by acting urgently now, we can limit its extent and mitigate its worst effects.
“In mobilising our societies, we must recognise our people’s concerns and bring people with us, our farmers, our workers, our enterprises, our people.
Varadar told delegates that “helping farmers adopt sustainable measures” were among the steps Ireland was taking in tackling climate change.
Acknowledging that Ireland is “a wealthy country”, Varadkar said the Loss and Damage fund “must begin disbursing finance as soon as possible”.
“Today I am announcing a contribution of €25 million to the new Loss and Damage Fund for 2024 and 2025,” the Taoiseach said.
Ireland’s fair share of loss and damage finance has been estimated to be at least €1.5 billion annually by 2030, according to new research by Christian Aid Ireland and Trócaire.
Trócaire policy advisor, Michael O’Brien recently said “Ireland can demonstrate leadership by being ready to make an initial substantial pledge to the fund at COP 28 [of at least €1.5 billion per year by 2030]”.
The Taoiseach said in his speech today that Ireland “will double” its “climate finance to at least €225 million per year by 2025”.
Emissions
In an article to mark the opening of COP28, Eurostat provided data that showed over the last decade, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the EU economy per employed person decreased by 26% or 3.6 tonnes.
In 2021, the emissions stood at 13.7 tonnes per employed person in the EU, compared with 17.3 in 2012.
Looking at the country data for 2021, the highest emissions per employed person were recorded in Ireland (22.8 tonnes per employed person).
In Ireland, most of the GHG are emitted by agriculture, forestry and fishing (41%) , with the sector emitting 206 tonnes per employed person.
Meanwhile, the Micro-Renewable Energy Federation (MREF) has called on Minister Eamon Ryan to review his decision to cut the domestic solar PV grant by 12.5% from January 1 2024.
MREF chairman Pat Smith said: “This decision sends a very negative message to households up and down the country planning to do their bit to reduce carbon emissions by installing a solar PV renewable energy system in the coming years.”
“The domestic solar PV grant also underpins thousands of jobs in small and medium-sized micro-gen companies right across the country.
“This decision to reduce it will negatively impact the number of domestic solar installations that will be achieved during 2024,” Smith added.