Remarks at the Launch Of The Convergence Roadshow 2012
Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary, 6th June 2012
Tá súil agam go n-eiríonn le d’fhéile teacht ar smaointí chruthaitheacha nua; smaointí a chuirfidh go mór le todhchaí rathúil.
[We all want a brighter future for our country and for our people. New thinking is necessary if we are to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past and if we are to address the challenges of the future. I hope that your festival is successful in bringing forward innovative and creative new ideas; ideas that will help us to build a more sustainable and prosperous future.]
It is a pleasure to visit your community here in Cloughjordan, where the vision of sustainable living is clearly being put into practice. Your community brings to mind the Irish saying: “Trína chéile a thógtar na caisleáin”; great achievements only come through cooperation. Yours is a community which works cooperatively in order to achieve your aims. You are concerned for community and mutual support, you encourage expression and creativity, and you consciously seek to protect and improve the environment. You have a vision of a better life and are actively pursuing it.
I know that many of you are advocates for environmental protection, and are actively involved in promoting sustainable living. Today more than ever our society needs leaders like yourselves, willing to articulate a new vision, willing to encourage and to motivate others. Your community clearly demonstrates concern and respect for our vulnerable environment and I congratulate you for that. Indeed I know that Cloughjordan were winners of the Climate Change Award in last year’s TidyTowns competition – deserved recognition of your efforts on behalf of the environment.
Today we face significant global environmental challenges: climate change; biodiversity loss; the need for resource efficiency in a world that now supports a population of over 7 billion and will need to support 9 billion people by 2050.
In 2009 scientists, led by Johan Rockstrom, proposed a holistic framework to explore how human activity is stressing Earth’s capacity for self regulation and restoration. These authors suggest that we must stay within the thresh holds of nine parameters, including for instance freshwater use, and ocean acidification or we will encounter catastrophic environmental change and disastrous consequences for humanity. They also argue that we may have already crossed the threshold for three of these important parameters. These are very significant challenges which will increasingly impact on all aspects of societal development. It is essential that we understand that sustainable development is not a set of problems to be solved, but as John Crowley of UNESCO tells us “an enduring condition to be lived with.”
Thankfully there is growing consensus that the economies of the world need to be put on a more sustainable path; that current systems of production and consumption need to re-imagined and re-invented and that we need to use our resources more efficiently if we are to secure a better future for all. These are the issues which will be discussed by the Governments of the world at the upcoming United Nations Rio+20 conference.
The Rio +20 conference will seek to secure renewed global political commitment for sustainable development with the aim of ensuring future prosperity, security and the eradication of poverty. The conference will also have a focus on the Green Economy, on integrating environmental considerations into future economic growth, so that prosperity and a better environment can move hand-in-hand. No doubt this will be a challenge but one which we cannot shy away from if we are to succeed in building a more sustainable future.
Sustainability, resource efficiency and the green economy are also at the centre of EU policy. Plans for future growth are set out in the EU’s 2020 strategy which seeks to reposition Europe towards a low carbon, climate resilient, resource efficient and, ultimately, sustainable future.
Ireland will have the opportunity to take a leadership role in European affairs when we take on the Presidency of the Council of the EU during the first six months of 2013. This will be our seventh Presidency, and the 40th anniversary of our accession to the EU. The Presidency offers us an opportunity to make a direct and positive contribution to developments within the EU. It offers us the opportunity to demonstrate our capabilities and re-establish our reputation on the international stage. On the environmental front we have a real opportunity to contribute as the EU’s 7th Environmental Action Programme is expected to be advanced during our Presidency. In the years ahead this Action Programme will be the key driver of environmental and green economy initiatives in the EU.
Tá dúshláin timpealleachta suntasacha againn sa lá atá inniu ann. Tá géarchéim eacnamaíochta againn ag an am céanna. Ach tá dóchas againn go dtiocfaidh deiseanna as an cur chuige Geilleagar Glas seo.
[Today, the significant environmental and resource challenges facing humanity arise against a backdrop of unprecedented economic crisis. But the hope of the Green Economy approach is that from adversity, opportunity will be created.]
Our own economic difficulties in recent years have been an enormous challenge for this country. But I have confidence that the people of Ireland have the capacity to move beyond these difficulties and that great possibilities await us in the years ahead. The acquisitiveness and crass materialism that characterized the Celtic Tiger years stands in great contrast to the values espoused and lived out here in Cloughjordan. Creativity, talent and innovation are in abundance throughout Ireland. We are resilient and determined. There are opportunities to be seized. For example, Ireland has great potential for the development of renewable energy, with our wonderful natural endowments in terms of wind and wave energy. These and other elements of the wider green economy canvas are the areas where our collective energies must be focused in the years ahead.
In engaging on the green economy in Rio in the coming weeks, it is important to remember that there is to be a particular focus on the role the green economy can play in the eradication of global poverty. We all know that the impacts of the world’s environmental challenges weigh heaviest on our poorest. Theirs is surely the greatest need for a more sustainable and fairer future and it is our responsibility to lead the way in achieving this.
Your own Convergence Festival will make a very positive contribution to our national effort to engage with these new strands of thinking. It is important that people are discussing these issues at the local level and are coming forward with innovative and creative ideas. Your festival provides an important opportunity for people to participate and to collectively work towards a better future. I commend you again for your efforts in advancing the cause of sustainability over the years.
So I am delighted to officially launch your road show today. I wish you a productive, engaging and enjoyable time and all the very best in the weeks ahead.
Is iontach an obair atá ar siúl anseo.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh.
Thank you.