Former Irish President offers inspiration, but the outlook is bleak

Martin Shipton

Britain’s politics are in a dark place, so it was refreshing even for a short time to be exposed to the moral authority that exudes from Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland.

In conjunction with the splendid Consulate General of Ireland in Wales, my old haunt Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff put on a special screening of a film profile of her called, appropriately enough, Mrs Robinson.

The woman herself then appeared to be interviewed by Wales’ Future Generations Commissioner Derek Walker, followed by a Q&A.

It’s as long ago as 1990 when she became her country’s first woman President and, as the film tells us, she was a surprise victor, toppling the duopoly of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael that had, with a sense of inevitability, provided her predecessors.

Mrs Robinson was a key player in the modernisation and liberalisation of Ireland, moving it forward from a period where the Catholic Church’s stifling influence blocked progress that was going on elsewhere in Europe.

A human rights lawyer, she campaigned for contraceptives to be available and as President she signed the Act that decriminalised homosexuality.

After deciding not to run for a second term, she was appointed the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Later she chaired The Elders group founded by Nelson Mandela, and became a recipient of the United States of America Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Days before coming to Cardiff, Mrs Robinson had attended the COP30 climate change negotiations summit in Belem, Brazil, She spoke passionately about the climate emergency, especially on the financing for climate adaptation and mitigation, about the economic benefits of transition to renewable energy, and the consequences of Amazon deforestation.

And she highlighted her own organisation, Project Dandelion, a women-led global campaign for climate justice.

Downside

Yet inspiring as her words were, there was an inescapable downside to Mrs Robinson’s report from the climate front line.

Responding to a question from Derek Walker, she said: “We’re in a fractured multicultural time at the moment, and that showed, and that made it very difficult to get a decision [on the way forward]. And we didn’t get the decision we wanted. We wanted to build on the decision in Dubai [where a previous COP was held] in particular, which said that we must transition from fossil fuel with justice and equity. Basically, we didn’t even get fossil fuel mentioned this time formally.

“ …I was thinking of it over the weekend. I was fed up with the decision itself – the fact that we couldn’t get phasing out of fossil fuel in the context of [the possibility] that the coral reefs will disappear. It’s possible that the Amazon itself will turn into a savannah and throw up carbon rather than capture it, as it does so wonderfully at the moment.”

There were, she said, 80-plus countries that really wanted to phase out fossil fuel, but almost 80 that weren’t convinced. Around 10 of the countries at the talks, including Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iran, were absolutely determined that they weren’t going to phase out fossil fuels.

Donald Trump

And, of course, the world’s most powerful climate emergency denier, Donald Trump, wasn’t even there, and neither were any of his minions – a fact that had emboldened the nay-sayers. It’s as if three words – drill, baby, drill – were sufficient to counter all the expert reports that had been produced about the reality and extent of the continuing climate emergency.

Despite the negativity, Mrs Robinson tried to wring some positives out of the situation: There had been agreement on helping workers transition from jobs in old industries to new careers in the clean energy sector; there was, as she put it, a good gender action plan; and there was enthusiasm among some cities and regions to push ahead with carbon reduction targets, in some cases five times as quickly as their national governments.

Yet the bottom line was that the two roadmaps wanted by progressives – the phasing out of fossil fuel and the phasing out of deforestation were not achieved.

Nevertheless, she’s not prepared to abandon the fight. Mrs Robinson herself gains inspiration from the passion of young people in particular who are convinced of the justice of the cause, as well as of those who are determined to keep working towards the two roadmaps.

Irish Ministers were disappointed by the outcome of the Brazil COP, with International Development Minister Neale Richmond saying: “Understandably, there have been suggestions that COP has become a talking shop, where climate activists and government representatives get together every year, but with little results.

“As government representatives we have to push back against this narrative, but we can only do that by showing that the process leads to real spending and real action.

“There should be no debate, the climate emergency is real; the science proves this. But to genuinely lead, leaders need to work harder than ever before to bring people along with them and show that we are willing to act.

“The role of COP has arguably never been more important at a time when its viability has never been more under threat.”

Integrity

Looking forward to the next COP, when Ireland will hold the EU Presidency, Darragh O’Brien, the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, said: “We owe it to the integrity of the COP process, and more importantly to our people and our planet, to maintain the fight for a fair, effective, and ambitious global response to the climate crisis.”

All this is just words, of course, and the outlook remains extremely worrying.

Despite ever more serious climate events, there is no prospect of the United States rejoining COP while Trump is in the White House, and the party leading the polls in Britain is funded by fossil fuel companies and committed to protecting their financial interests.

Sadly, when moral authority comes up against brutal economic power, it’s the latter that tends to win, at least in the short term. With social media swamped by climate emergency denial, the issue has been sidetracked into divisiveness and the chances of saving the planet are diminishing week by week, month by month and year by year.

Of course the campaign has to continue, but no one should be blamed for feeling pessimistic.

Listening to Mrs Robinson, it came to me that sometimes inspiration and a sense of impotence can co-exist.