Eamon Ryan: Climate is an election issue — we can't give up on the world

The vast majority of Irish people understand the risk that climate change brings and want our politicians to step up to the mark

King Felipe VI of Spain being heckled by angry residents during his visit to Paiporta in the region of Valencia, eastern Spain, in the aftermath of devastating floods. We must build new financial architecture because we are all equally threatened. As we saw in Valencia, no place is safe, we are all on the same frontline. Picture: Manaure Quintero/AFP

The Cop29 climate negotiations in Baku in Azerbaijan this week were never going to be easy but they got far more difficult after the US elections. How do we get agreement to phase out fossil fuels when the largest polluter wants to drill on from here? How do we deliver a UN agreement when the biggest economy says it wants out? What do we tell our young people when they know we risk crossing climate tipping points, which will leave them living in an unstable, unsafe world?

These negotiations were always going to be tense because we must agree on how much financial support the wealthy countries will provide to the lower income ones. Those who have done least to cause the problem are already being hit most by climate impacts.