“We’ve had a year of record-breaking temperatures and alarming severe weather events, including some on our own shores, which have had disastrous consequences for the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people around the world. This is a crucial opportunity. The Global Stocktake will assess what the world has actually achieved since the Paris Agreement of 2015, when 196 countries agreed to limit global warming. We must work harder and faster to secure a safe, healthy, prosperous environment for all.

“One of the most effective ways to help individuals is a better system of climate finance. Sadly, the countries suffering most from climate change often have the greatest difficulty getting access to the finance and resources they need to deal with it. So, I look forward to COP28 making progress on a new loss and damage fund. Ireland has committed to €225 million a year from 2025 to climate finance, the highest ever in our history, and I fully expect us to reach that target.

“At a time when the world is divided in so many ways, the urgent need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and bring down our emissions, is one challenge that unites us all. We also need to scale up and prioritise adaptation.

“Climate change is happening even faster than most people anticipated. The international community must achieve the goals it has committed to. We need to find a way of removing the obstacles that have stood in the way of progress to date.

“There are a lot of opportunities too, particularly for Ireland in renewable energy. We have vast natural resources, which we can harness, making us energy independent and fuelling our economy with cheap, reliable, secure energy.

“The transition must be just and fair. I’m really conscious that both the effects of climate change, and the actions needed to prevent it, do not affect people equally, so we must make sure we protect the most vulnerable in everything we do.

“Whatever is agreed here at COP28, it will have consequences for the future of our planet and its people.”