Irish Examiner View: Humanity’s greatest challenge

A fire rages in a forest in Senyayla village near Mugla, Turkey. A UN Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change predicts a grim future unless more is done globally to tackle the problem. (Ismail Coskun/IHA via AP)

That last week Tánaiste Leo Varadkar had to apologise was a consequence of many things.

An uncomfortable sense that those behind a party he attended march to drum other than the one guiding public health policy was one. The misjudgment showed a naivety that should not be a presence in an administration in its second decade in power. It also confirmed an underappreciation of the potency of negative imagery and messaging. Because of that naivety-cum-hubris credibility has been squandered and his capacity to lead, especially on hotly-contested issues, is diminished. In the light of yesterday's frightening UN climate report that weakness is disconcerting especially as Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan has warned that the cost of ignoring climate change would be “catastrophic”  and that  “the window for action is closing”.