Cork TD to attend COP protest

The Covid-19 pandemic is far less of a threat to mankind than the climate emergency we currently face.

That’s according to Leeside Socialist Party and Solidarity TD Mick Barry who travelled to Glasgow today, Thursday, to take part in large-scale peaceful protests at the COP26 climate conference.

Deputy Barry said the pandemic has given us just a glimpse of what a real global crisis looks like. “To be honest, the pandemic is small beer in comparison with what's coming down the line with climate change,” he said.

Deputy Barry said he has “no confidence” in the government leaders who dominate the stage at COP26 and that his faith now lies in the huge numbers of people who are mobilising on the streets, especially the younger people.

“There have been 25 COPs and they have brought us to the point where the world is facing an increase of 2.7 degrees Celsius,” he said.

Deputy Barry added: “The problem is the majority of these governments and the majority of these leaders are beholden to the big corporations.”

Deputy Barry claimed that just 100 large corporations have been responsible for 71 per cent of global carbon emissions since 1988.

The deputy, who represents Cork North-Central, said a delegation of the Irish Government are “trotting over to Glasgow waving their climate action plans in the air and trying to pose as the best boys and girls in the global classroom”.

Speaking at COP26 on Tuesday, An Taoiseach Micheál Martin pledged to more than double Ireland’s contribution to developing countries bringing the total to €225 million per year.

He also said Ireland would sign a promise to reduce methane emissions by 30 per cent, however, he underlined that this would be part of a global goal rather than a goal specific to Ireland.

Responding to this, Deputy Barry told the Cork Independent that in refusing to commit to a 30 per cent methane decrease in Ireland, the Taoiseach is “kowtowing to the interests of agribusiness and the big dairy farms”.

“He’s doing that instead of saying, ‘Yes, we will cut methane emissions by 30 per cent in Ireland’, which any government serious about climate change would do without hesitation,” he said.

“On Tuesday morning the Government admitted that the very modest carbon emission cuts targeted for 2022 will not be reached.”

While in Glasgow, the deputy will be taking part in a students’ strike on Friday, and a large-scale demo on Saturday which is expected to draw over 100,000 people and will be attended by Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg.

Deputy Barry firmly believes that the world’s youth will be the ones to make a real difference in the fight against climate change. “It’s clear that the young generation are going to lead the fight to defend against climate change but mothers and fathers and older people like myself need to listen and learn from the younger generation.”

Turning his attention to Cork, Deputy Barry said rising water levels on Leeside are a clear, first-hand indication of the climate crisis and point to the need for a tidal barrier to be built somewhere in Cork Harbour.

However, he said there were other things we could be doing in Cork and nationally such as making public transport free for everyone.

“In the Budget, the Government introduced half price travel for 19-24 year olds. That was a half measure and now is not the time for half measures. There’s a climate emergency. We need emergency measures and emergency measures mean free public transport for all. I think free public transport for all needs to be part of that,” he said.

He will be making the journey to Glasgow with a number of younger members of the Socialist Party, one of whom, 23 year old Michael Shiel Lantry, said that most people his age are fully aware of the gravity of the climate crisis but that an underlying pessimism might stop some from taking action.

He said: “It’s to do with a sense of frustration and not being sure what the correct political action to take is. If there’s nothing you can do then you have to just stand back and kind of wait for it to happen and enjoy your life in the meantime.”

“But if there is something you can do, then what is it? It’s a scary question I think, but what I hope to see coming out of COP26 is, when people see these protests and demonstrations and younger people getting organised, it will inspire mobilization and show them that there are things we can do about this.”