Speaking at DCU’s annual climate conference, the former president of Ireland called for collective action to take on the fossil fuel lobby and save our planet for future generations.
“Art is so important” in the fight for climate justice, argued Mary Robinson, speaking to delegates at Dublin City University’s (DCU) annual climate conference today (16 April).
A former President of Ireland and chair of the Elders, Robinson said “you don’t move people with statistics … you move people from the heart”.
A major focus of her talk was the work of Project Dandelion, which she described as a “revolutionary, women-led but not women-only movement” to galvanise the climate fight across generations. The dandelion was chosen as a symbol of the movement because of its resilience, its deep roots which help protect the soil, its use as nourishment for people, its ability to remove toxins from the body and the fact that it grows on all continents.
Yellow dandelion flowers. Image: © Elena Odareeva/Stock.adobe.com
“We need a symbol that will unite us on the right side of the issue to combat the fossil fuel industry.” Robinson spoke highly of the many grassroots organisations and individuals that are working on solving the crisis, but she said there is a need for more joined-up thinking and more connection between these disparate groups to tackle powerful adversaries. “We’re not moving nearly fast enough … Unfortunately, one of the blocks to moving faster is where the money is going.”
Citing the trillions of Euro that goes into subsidising fossil fuel companies every year and the collective power of the fossil fuel lobby to campaign for their interests, Robinson said there is an urgent need for those who want to save our planet to work together. “We need to know our power,” she said.
From climate change to climate justice
Robinson has campaigned for climate justice for more than two decades. Today she called for “long-view leadership” to address the challenges of climate and biodiversity. She has seen what she described as a tendency of politicians to move more towards “populist solutions” that are not properly thought out and do not pay enough attention to the latest science.
She calls for leadership “that has a real sense of urgency” and long-term goals in mind. Ireland, she said, has good climate policies, but is too slow at implementing them.
Robinson spoke candidly about the fact that she never mentioned climate change during her time as president of Ireland. And even when she took up the role of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, she thought of climate as separate to the inequalities and injustices she was focused on. However, during time spent in various parts of Africa in the early ’00s, she realised that the issues of poverty and racial and gender inequality were inextricably linked to climate effects. She was stunned to realise the climate shocks being felt by poorer nations in the global south at this time. From that point on, she spoke of climate justice rather than climate change.
One of the major injustices, according to Robinson, is generational. Young people do not have the power to tackle the climate crisis and are reliant on the older generations to fight for their future. Robinson was “delighted” at this year’s DCU conference theme, ‘Climate Justice Across Generations’, because it has been “a passion of mine for a very long time”. Describing herself as “an angry granny”, Robinson believes intergenerational discussions are so important because the different generations can learn a lot from each other.
She spoke of meeting young people involved in the ‘Children and Young People’s Assembly on Biodiversity Loss’ backstage before her talk. From these young people, she learned that Ireland has about 1pc of its native woodland left, a shocking fact she was unaware of, which underscored her belief that older people can learn from younger generations, and the vital need for the restoration of biodiversity in Ireland and around the world.
A standing ovation to end our very inspiring keynote with members of the Children and Young People’s Assembly on Biodiversity @cypbiodiversity. Thanks to Conor, Laura, Ailidh and Niamh for their thoughts and reflections. We hope to see you back soon! #DCUClimate2024 pic.twitter.com/mCTyWfXdQ2
— DCU Centre for Climate & Society (@DCUClimate) April 16, 2024
Part of the fight for climate justice is to compensate those most affected by the climate, Robinson argued. This includes major financing such as the loss and damage fund, which was finally agreed upon and operationalised at COP28 in Dubai. It also includes incentivising changes in behaviour at national and local levels, according to Robinson.
She spoke of the terrible fact that farmers in Ireland are suffering from “exactly what was predicted” by the science – that is, huge increases in rainfall – and called for supports to move towards greener solutions for agriculture. If needed, she thinks spending our children and grandchildren’s money is justifiable if it means saving their future.
And she is hopeful that incentives and “a sense of urgency” will ensure that people change their behaviour, citing Covid-19 as an example of mass behavioural change that happened overnight.
The early days of Covid-19 when everything slowed down were for Robinson “an insightful moment” that opened the possibility of a safer, cleaner world to aim for. “Maybe we need a more imagined future,” she said. “We need to talk more about where we want to be.”
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