Ryan wants aviation, shipping, and fossil fuel firms to pay for climate impact

Minister Eamon Ryan said: 'The question I'll be asking this week and pushing with my colleagues — in global aviation and shipping and fossil fuel companies — are there ways in which they can make a contribution towards the loss and damage fund, or climate finance fund?' Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

International aviation, shipping, and fossil fuel firms should cough up funds towards so-called "loss and damage" and "climate finance" efforts to protect countries most vulnerable to climate change, according to Environment and Transport Minister Eamon Ryan.

Speaking at the Cop27 climate change summit in Egypt, the minister said he expects pushback from the likes of Saudi Arabia on compelling fossil fuel companies to be on the hook for climate compensation, but that nevertheless, he would push for it.

Aviation and shipping are glaring omissions from Ireland's carbon budgets, which allocate emissions ceilings to the likes of motorists, households, farmers, businesses, and industry in five-year cycles.

Emissions in aviation were estimated to be about 2.5% globally in the years before the pandemic struck, while shipping accounts for nearly 3%.

"The question I'll be asking this week and pushing with my colleagues — in global aviation and shipping and fossil fuel companies — are there ways in which they can make a contribution towards the loss and damage fund, or climate finance fund?

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"It's very hard when you've 200 countries who have to agree something, I'd imagine Saudi Arabia might not be too pleased, but I don't think we should ignore it as an unspoken truth," he said.

Climate finance and loss and damage have been major themes of the Cop27 event in Sharm-el-Sheikh.

"Loss and damage" refers to the consequences of climate change that go beyond what people can adapt to, while climate finance refers to major nations paying a fairer share towards climate change bolstering in smaller nations.

Mr Ryan said: "Within this week, will there be the possibility of us saying well, the fossil fuel companies have to pay for some of the funds and other mechanisms where we get international agreements on maritime and aviation so that those industries aren't exempt from climate action? 

"The Paris climate agreement doesn't address the fossil fuel companies or doesn't even mention fossil fuels in the text. And I do think at this stage, we do need to have mechanisms where they are held to account."

The Paris Agreement of 2015 outlined a temperature rise limit of 1.5C that scientists say is needed to stave off the very worst climate change fallout.