Environment Minister Eamon Ryan is being urged to ‘lead by example’ when he attends Cop29 as one of the EU’s lead negotiators on Tuesday.
Ahead of his journey, he said that an agreement at the world’s “most important” climate negotiations is needed to give hope for a “peaceful future.”
Devastating floods in Spain in recent weeks are the latest reminder of the ongoing effect that climate change is having on the planet, with soaring temperatures and increased weather disasters affecting millions of people globally.
Speaking on Monday, Mr Ryan said the re-election of Donald Trump as US president meant that there would be a “likely retreat” by his administration — noting that multilateral co-operation is now “under threat.”
“There is a real risk that these negotiations could fail, and we will not find a path forward,” he said.
“It will be hard to get agreement in a world that is so divided and under such stress, but that is what we have to do.
“There is no other way but to get renewed support for the Paris Climate Agreement between the 194 countries who will attend.
“Giving up would be unforgivable, but success could help restore hope in our world.
“The prize is not just to stop runaway climate change but also to develop a new economy which delivers better sustainable development for all.”
Mr Ryan will, alongside a counterpart from Costa Rica, act as a ministerial pair with climate negotiations.
He said he thought that Ireland had been given this role because it is good at providing adaptation finance. It makes up 80% of the country’s climate spend, which has doubled over the past four years.
Meanwhile, former President Mary Robinson said it was “high time” that oil and gas companies were made to “pay up” for their effect on climate change.
Mrs Robinson is one of many major names involved in the Global Witness activist group.
The ‘payback time’ campaign notes that fossil fuel companies make profits which “eclipse what is needed to pay for the damage caused by extreme weather events linked to climate change”.
The UN’s loss and damage fund currently provides crucial support to vulnerable nations facing the brunt of climate-related challenge.
However, the money in the fund is dwarfed by the amount made by oil and gas groups — with the industry making more than €3.5 trillion in 2022 alone.
Mrs Robinson said: “People need money to rebuild and adapt to our increasingly extreme climate. But right now the oil and gas companies fuelling climate collapse are getting away scot-free — making immense profits from products they have known for decades would harm the planet. It’s high time we made them pay up.”
Ireland’s Centre for Environmental Justice is calling for Mr Ryan to lead by example by meeting their legally binding climate targets.
In a statement, they said: “Ireland’s emissions are not decreasing rapidly enough to stay within the confines of the State’s own legally binding 2025 and 2030 carbon budgets and successive Climate Action Plans have fallen short on implementation.
“The cost of failing to meet these obligations could exceed €8bn for the period up to 2030.
“As a developed country with a strong capacity to transition towards a climate-neutral economy, Ireland has a responsibility to demonstrate global leadership on climate action.”