Climate Change and Displacement

Delivering a keynote address ‘People and planet: shaping a pathway to climate justice in 2015’ at a climate change conference at Trinity College Dublin, Mary Robinson spoke of the climate change migrants and said Ireland had a history of generosity, collaboration and innovation.

“We are, I believe, empathetic citizens of the world. We are moved by injustice, as evidenced from the recent response to the refugee and migrant crisis. We are moved to seek justice and protect the most vulnerable.”

Ms Robinson said the people most affected by climate change had played no part in causing the problem. “They don’t own a car; they don’t have a fridge; they have no air conditioning unit.” 

She argued that 2015 was a year in which people could “dare to imagine” things getting better. Referencing the upcoming UN conferences on the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Conference, she called for global co-operation now to move into a new era of sustainable development.

“We need a zero carbon, zero poverty world,” she said.

By taking action on climate change today, we could make life better for millions of people. 

The event at Trinity, ‘Tackling Climate Change and Harnessing Sustainable Resources’, aimed to explore the potential of partnerships between research and industry.

For more information, click here.  A report on the event from The Irish Times can be accessed here.