Press release
Taoiseach attending COP28 World Climate Action Summit in Dubai
From Department of the Taoiseach
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of the Taoiseach
Published on
Last updated on
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is attending COP28, the 28th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Expo City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The 2023 Summit is one of the most important in years because it will see what progress has been made to meet the targets agreed in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The World Climate Action Summit also kicks off two weeks of negotiations on how to cut emissions, produce more renewable energy, and use climate finance to limit the impact of climate change on people, the natural environment and countries around the world.
The Taoiseach will hold several bilateral meetings with world leaders while at COP28. These will focus mainly on climate change but the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are likely to arise.
He will also make Ireland’s National Statement to the conference this Saturday, setting out our commitment to vulnerable countries experiencing the greatest impact of climate change.
Speaking from Dubai, the Taoiseach said:
“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.”
The conference will be framed around four goals - mitigation, adaptation, finance and collaboration.
In advance of his attendance at COP28, the Taoiseach will undertake a programme in the UAE on 30 November.