GLOBAL COP26 climate negotiations had been described as the “last, best hope” to keep to the goal of limiting global warming.
World leaders spent weeks negotiating a deal that aims to limit global temperature rising to 1.5°C through a range of climate action measures.
However, China and India forced a last-minute change to commitments around phasing out fossil fuels which climate experts believe significantly weakens the chances of limiting temperature rises to 1.5 degrees.
Climate Minister Eamon Ryan, who represented Ireland at COP26 talks, described the eleventh-hour amendment to the deal as “gut wrenching” and claimed the agreement is “not enough.”
Here at home, Social Democrats spokesperson on Climate and Biodiversity, JENNIFER WHITMORE, will launch legislation today that will ban engine idling at schools to protect children from unnecessary air pollution.
Writing in the Irish Sun today, she says the move is a simple way help to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
SIMPLE WAY TO REDUCE EMISSIONS
COP26 ended last week not so much with a bang but with a whimper — quite literally, when conference president Alok Sharma was reduced to tears at the watering down of the final deal.
At the behest of India and China, a commitment to “phase out” coal was diluted to “phase down” coal — whatever that means.
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Given the disastrous implications for the planet of this shameful abdication of responsibility, Mr Sharma’s tears were understandable.
Yet, they also fed disillusionment across the globe about our collective ability to make the significant changes that are required now to stop a climate disaster unfolding in our lifetimes.
The challenges we face when it comes to climate change can sometimes feel overwhelming — especially, when those countries which emit the most want to do the least.
But, there are some simple changes we can make in our own lives that will keep us all healthier and our environment cleaner — and make a real and substantial difference to our communities.
CHILDREN MOST AT RISK
It may surprise you to learn but the single biggest environmental threat to public health is air pollution, which is often emitted from the same sources as greenhouse gases, meaning the two are linked.
In Ireland, the Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that 1,300 premature deaths per year are linked to air pollution, which contributes to cardiovascular disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases.
Banning smoky coal must clearly be a priority if we want to improve air quality, but in cities and other urban areas the toxic nitrogen dioxide (NO2) fumes that come from diesel cars are a huge source of danger and damage.
Those most at risk from (NO2) include children, who can be more susceptible to the damaging impact of air pollution because of their smaller size, developing physiology and closer proximity to fumes from cars.
TARGET MEASURES AT SCHOOLS
According to the Asthma Society of Ireland, one in five children in Ireland experience asthma at some stage in their lives and this can be directly linked to air pollution. It is therefore essential that we do all that we can to improve air quality to keep children safe — and targeting measures at schools seems like a good place to start.
Most of us will have experienced the traffic gridlock that surrounds the approach to schools, in the morning and the afternoon when kids are dropped off and collected, but what we may not be aware of is that idling cars do a disproportionate amount of damage.
An idling engine can produce up to twice as many exhaust emissions as an engine in motion and international studies have found that idling for over ten seconds uses more fuel and produces more carbon dioxide than restarting your engine.
This is why I am launching legislation today that will ban engine idling at schools, a legal measure which supports attempts already under way in many schools to stop this harmful practise.
Banning idling at schools is one way that people make simple, and environmentally friendly, decisions in their everyday lives.
TIME TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE
It will not only benefit children, and the wider school community, but help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change.
This legislation, alone, will not be enough. Supporting children to cycle and walk to school, by making our streets safer and installing proper cycling infrastructure that separates cyclists from traffic, will also be key to improving air quality around our schools.
As it stands, an easy way to instantly improve air quality at schools, and on our traffic-choked roads, would be for car idling to become a thing of a past.
Given this week is Clean Air Week, I am hopeful the Government will support my legislation and enact it as quickly as possible. We don’t have any time to wait.
