Irish Examiner view: Putting the fire out now
People Antonio With High Wildfires Week In Italy At By Temperatures Rome On Picture: Brought Seven On Help People Colosseum Heatwaves In Tuesday Killed Paramedics Masiello/getty Storms And The Coping Last
The extreme temperatures seen across the globe in the past month would have been virtually impossible without the influence of human-caused climate change, new scientific research revealed yesterday, but if supporters of rapid climate action thought this would accelerate change in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they were sadly wrong.
Yesterday, World Weather Attribution, an international group of scientists which measures how much climate change influences extreme weather events, said the globe would not be seeing these phenomena “at all” without climate change.
Having focused on the worst heat of the northern hemisphere summer — which has seen temperatures in Phoenix, Arizona, hitting 43C for 20 consecutive days, or a remote township in Xinjiang, China, breaking a national record with a temperature of 52.2C — the boffins say this is all down to climate change.
With large tracts of Europe, Canada, Mexico, and South-East Asia ablaze, the scientists maintain if the composition of the atmosphere stays at today’s levels, the US and Mexico can expect a heatwave like they have experienced this month once every 15 years. In southern Europe, the figure is one every 10 years. In China, that figure is one in five.
Because the world has not — and seemingly will not — stop burning fossil fuels and putting greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, the odds will continue to tip in favour of extreme heat. According to the science, even if we stop, temperatures will not cool again, but simply stop rising.
And yet, across the world nations are choosing to prioritise economic growth and national interests over climate policies. This might be understandable for poor or developing countries, but in Europe and China, it is near unforgivable.
Across Europe in recent months the backlash against climate policies has been apparent, but this is mystifying given a majority of governments are completely aligned with and supportive of green objectives. The fact that nation after nation has seen government green policies undermined by popular pressure is very worrying.
While Ireland is significantly behind in its targets, the European ground zero for adapting policy to economic needs is Germany. It has already secured a derogation on the banning of fossil-fuelled cars until 2035 and is now looking to further protect its vital car manufacturing industries. Germany has also backtracked on a signature proposal to ban fossil fuelled home heating.
In The Netherlands, large farming protests against nitrogen emission restrictions have fuelled the rise of the Farmer-Citizen Movement which could see it win big in the forthcoming snap general election, while Norway recently approved 19 new oil and gas projects, despite being an exemplar for environmental policies.
What is now needed is a shift of focus from rapid decarbonisation to technological developments to make energy transformation more affordable. Otherwise large sections of the Earth will continue to burn.
With protests over the judicial overhaul in Israel now in their 28th week, the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his ultra-conservative government seem to be playing with fire. Having passed a law aimed at curbing the ability of the country’s supreme court to put checks on government power, Netanyahu has inflamed almost every section of Israeli society — including doctors, lawyers and the country’s vital military reserve — with what is widely perceived as a power grab.
While it is as yet unclear how the passage of the law will pan out, there are considerable fears of an inexorable slide towards authoritarianism. Protestors in each of the country’s main cities have been numerous and vocal in their condemnation of the judicial overhaul, and the government claim that the changes are the will of the people ring hollow.
Polls have indicated that more Israelis oppose these plans than approve of it and Netanyahu’s claim that the law is a “necessary democratic act” has brought urgency to the need to find broad consensus in a country now riven with division.
That Netanyahu is acting like the political version of a spoilt child — “it’s my ball and I’m going home with it” — is only deepening the internal divisions within Israel and creating much concern among allies around the world and especially in the US.
It is also worrying that Netanyahu appears beholden to extremist elements that are keeping him in power and that a minority right-wing element within the country now has greater control over the administration, and the judiciary, than is deemed acceptable in any democracy.
It seems a little off kilter that Finance Minister Michael McGrath is signalling that the Government will reintroduce energy cost supports for families in the budget, when some of the energy providers are making record profits.
Popular as such a move will undoubtedly be with families, it might be even more popular if electricity and gas utilities had their margins reined in.
We know that such companies negotiate prices for supply in advance and are tethered by such deals, but with the ESB Group showing increased profits last year — up to €847m from €679m in 2021 — and the British owner of Bord Gáis seeing profits surge to €3.5bn, surely there is room for manoeuvre.
That Environment Minister Eamon Ryan has asked the Commission for Regulation of Utilities to conduct a probe of the market and pricing strategies is welcome, but for many families who this winter will have to decide between buying food and heating their homes, the issue is more than visceral.
Undoubtedly, government support will be welcome, but there needs to be a closer look at the bottom line when it comes to energy providers.
CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB