Minister backs climate change movement

Energy Minister Eamon Ryan today gave his backing to a major new student movement seeking to focus national attention on reducing Ireland’s carbon footprint.

The Green Party minister told a launch meeting in Trinity College, Dublin, that the science of climate change could no longer be disputed.

“You can see Irish weather changing – look outside today, roses are blooming at the end of October – and the May Fly has become the April Fly.

“In other parts of the world the changes are life and death matters,” he said.

The minister said he believed as a member of government he had a “real moral obligation” to tackle climate change by acting on emissions and the use of fossil fuels.

The minister said he was really pleased to support the student initiative - action was needed before the earth reached the tipping point .

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) is one of the main supporters behind the Student Action on Climate Change campaign, which is also being supported by the Stop Climate Change Coalition.

USI Environmental Awareness Officer Dave Curran said: “We intend that the Student Action on Climate Change campaign should become the largest political mass movement Ireland has ever seen.

“The campaign is uniting people from all walks of life in common purpose.

“Our grassroots are students and young people – joined by supporters of all ages – all committed to reducing Ireland’s carbon footprint.

“What unites us is a determination to agitate for real action to reduce our impact on the Earth’s climate from individuals, from the state and from business.

“Think of this planet as our biggest ever home investment.

“We cannot, as citizens, afford to neglect our home and allow parts of it to become uninhabitable now or in the future,” he said.

Other speakers included Helen Cantrell from the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition and representatives from Friends of the Earth and Gluaiseacht, the environmental and social justice movement.