Lukewarm response on climate change will cost us dearly

Government must act with strong legislation to combat the very real threat of climate change, writes Michael McCarthy

CLIMATE change no longer seems remote and intangible. It is now one of the key issues facing the world today and it is vitally important that we formulate the necessary policy and legislation to help Ireland move to a low carbon and environmentally sustainable economy and society.

We have taken some battering over the last number of weeks and months. The recent sequence of severe storms have caused havoc, battering homes, businesses and farms across Ireland. Communities the length and breadth of the country are still trying to piece together, clean-up and repair the damage caused. This tells us quite clearly that climate change is not some abstract academic idea, or something that might happen at some time in the distant future.