Communities that rely on environmentally-damaging industries are being left behind in the fight against climate change, according to a new report.
The report from Youth Work Ireland, which will be published by former president Mary Robinson on Thursday, examines how a range of measures designed to help the environment fail to account for their human costs.
For example, it points to the closure of peat fuelled power plants, which it says has “rendered entire communities unemployed, without providing alternative employment opportunities”.
It also highlights that 71 per cent of landfill sites and waste incinerators in the country are located in areas that are below the national average of deprivation.
The report considers “how communities whose livelihoods rely on climate-damaging industries are being left behind in the fight against climate change”, and emphasises the need for “just transitions”.
The “just transitions” concept involves looking at how to support communities that rely on environmentally-damaging practices as society moves into more sustainable ways of living.
Speaking ahead of the launch, Ms Robinson said a “system change” was required after the public health crisis has passed.
“As we come out of Covid we must not go back to normal,” she said. “Normal wasn’t getting us to a safe future. We need to go back to real changes in how we run our society and that is system change.
“Nowadays people do recognise that young people have to be heard, but sometimes you may have to make your point more strongly. The reality of the fires in California, the flooding in Florida is all becoming hard to deny, unless you are making money out of denials.”
Financial risk
The report also points out that small farms are at financial risk due to the worsening impacts of climate change.
Poor weather in 2018 led to a fodder shortage, which saw dairy farm incomes fall by one third. The adverse effects of extreme weather such as flooding causes damages and losses in holdings, crops, livestock and fodder, it says.
The report emphasises the need for reducing agricultural emissions and “ensuring a just transition for these communities, protecting the livelihoods and the way of life of rural Ireland”.
The report is part of the Our Fair Planet: Youth Actions for Climate Justice programme which was developed by Youth Work Ireland and Dr Sue Redmond with funding received from the Department of Children and the Youth Climate Justice Fund.
