A picnic and a coastal clean-up were among the events organised in Ireland as part of the global day of climate action.
More than 600 people attended the People’s Climate Picnic which took place under warm sunshine in St Stephen’s Green, Dublin, yesterday.
It was organised by Stop Climate Chaos, the Climate Gathering and People's Climate Ireland. Ciara Kirrane, co-ordinator of Stop Climate Chaos, said the event was held to send a message to Taoiseach Enda Kenny that people in Ireland cared about climate change.
“This level of prioritisation of climate change, both at home and internationally, is long overdue,” she said.
Climate Bill
“By placing the Climate Bill on the A-list, the Government is signalling its intention to enact climate legislation before the end of 2014. The Taoiseach is on the record as saying this is his hope, and we are calling on him to commit to that deadline at the Climate Summit on Tuesday.”
In Clare, a coastal clean-up of Blackhead was organised by the Burrenbeo Trust and other groups to mark the day.
Happenings, the pop-up cultural events organiser, screened the documentary Samsara in Dublin's Merrion Square last night as part of the global day of action.
Former president of Ireland Mary Robinson will jointly host a gathering of more than 130 women leaders in New York today which will call for gender-sensitive climate action.
Mrs Robinson, who founded the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice, said climate change was the biggest challenge to human rights of the 21st century.
‘Urgent transformation’
“This warrants an urgent transformation in leadership that is supported by all peoples in all nations. But we must ensure that when we design climate change policies they are fair and therefore consider the needs of the most vulnerable people,” she said. “Climate change impacts everyone, but the poor and the marginalised, many of them women and girls, are the most impacted.”
