"my name is oisín and i'm scared"

​On Thursday 6th of July 2023, we had the pleasure to welcome Oisín Coghlan, Chief Executive of Friends of the Earth, Ireland, one of our guest speakers to The Mary Robinson Climate Conference.

Oisín talks about how he's personally struggling with the growing seriousness of climate change.  He's been an environmental activist for a long time, and now he's openly admitting that he's scared and worried about the worsening climate situation.

Oisín thinks about how he's been trying to talk to people about climate change using logic and communication, but he's realising that's not enough.  He talks about the real effects of climate change happening now, such as extreme weather, and how these events show that the crisis is not something far away anymore.

Oisín is frustrated with slow progress and wants bigger, more dramatic actions to match the big problem.  He compares this situation to times in history when people took strong actions for important causes, and he says it's time to go from just hoping for change to actually doing things to make a difference.  He wants people to do things that might seem unusual or extreme, to get everyone working together to fight climate change more urgently.

Below is the full transcription of Oisín’s speech:

read full speech