Youth ‘must insist on climate action’

YOUNG people must pressurise political leaders in order to meet the challenge of climate change, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations intergovernmental panel on climate change told delegates to the Partnership for Change — Climate Change Conference in Cork.

Dressed in cricket gear and speaking from his home in India via video link, the Nobel laureate said: “We are at a crossroads in terms of climate change and young people must start to exert pressure on the rest of society to start taking the right set of actions so they will not have to lose out in the future.”

A key aspect of the conference was the focus on youth, and representatives from 16 secondary schools were invited to attend to hear for themselves the devastating affects of climate change from leading international experts. More than 100 students from universities and third-level colleges also participated.

Opening the conference, Environment Minister John Gormley said: “The most significant challenge we face as a species and as a nation is that of limiting and adapting to climate change. If global warming is allowed to continue unchecked, the consequences for humanity and the environment are devastating.”

Mr Gormley added that, despite the measures taken to date “we are facing the very real prospect of our greenhouse gas emissions exceeding the proposed reduction target for 2020 by seven million tonnes. And that is the challenge we face under the most favourable scenario.”

Mr Gormley said a carbon levy would definitely be included in next year’s budget and that, in future, local authorities will have to take account of environmental guidelines when considering planning applications.

Attended by more than 300 environmentalists, climate change activists, NGOs and policy officers, and sponsored by EnviroManagement Services and Bord Gáis, the key message from the conference was that the consequences of climate change are very real.

According to Declan Waugh, head of the Partnership for Change Initiative: “The costs of inaction — in ecological, human and financial terms — will far exceed the costs of action now.”

Other speakers included Professor James Hansen, world-leading scientist on global warming who spoke via a live video link; Sean O’Leary, chairman of the IFA’s climate change team and Professor Colin Woodroffe of the United Nation’s intergovernmental panel on climate change.