Columban eco theologian Fr Sean McDonagh is one of the speakers at this Saturday’s conference in Dalgan Park on Laudato Si’ and Renewable Energy.
Since the launch of the Pope’s encyclical, St Columban’s has hosted a series of conferences on Laudato Si’ linking it to climate change, biodiversity, the oceans and rivers.
The focus on renewable energy is timely following the recent study by Germanwatch and the New Climate Institute (NCI).
It showed that Ireland is the worst performing country in Europe when it comes to taking action to combat climate change.
The study ranked Ireland 49th out of 56 countries in the 2018 Climate Change Performance Index.
The report calls for “greater efforts” to be made globally to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and highlights positive developments on switching to renewable energy sources and energy efficiency.
Speaking to Columbans.ie, Fr McDonagh criticised Ireland’s lack of effort in addressing climate change, warning the issue needs to be addressed “rapidly”.
Noting that 33% of the country’s emissions are linked to agriculture, he said that over the past few years, the sector was, nevertheless, trying to double the number of dairy herds.
“So, we’re in a pretty bad space and after 2020 we will be fined between €100-400 million a year by the EU for missing targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
The conference, he explained, is “an opportunity for us to hear what is going on.”
He said that for Columbans it is an opportunity to think about their lack of an alternative energy system in Dalgan Park and “whether it is proper for us to have a dairy herd here”.
“One of the things that has led to an increase in greenhouse gases is the meat diet we eat all the time – is this good for us? Should we begin to look at a different kind of diet?” he questioned.
“Climate change involves not just greenhouse gases but also very major changes in our own lives and that is what we want to look at on Saturday.”
He warned that Ireland needs “to begin to make strides on this and set a target each year for the lowering of greenhouse emissions by 3-5%.”
“This is not a new issue; I was at Kyoto in 1997 and 20 years ago we were talking about the importance of greenhouse gas emissions. We have done little so far. In fact, what we do in Europe is we try to get away with things by telling people we are an island and we produce food.”
“The reality is there are maybe 5.5 million of us and yet we have the same carbon footprint as the poorest 400 million people in the world – that’s a good example of just how hopeless we are. We need to do something for the future of our planet and the people who live on it.”
The conference is open to the public. It begins at 10am with a talk by Fr McDonagh on Laudato Si’.
That is followed at 11.30am by Joe Curran, a research fellow at the Institute of International and European Affairs at UCC, who will speak about ‘Making ‘Green’ Work for Everyone’. Dr Curran is a member of the Government’s climate change advisory group, as is Fr McDonagh.
In the afternoon, Paul Kenny, Chief Executive with Tipperary Energy Agency, will speak about ‘Transitioning from Fossil Fuels-implementing of the papal encyclical one building at a time’.
The conference costs €30 and that includes lunch. Students €10.
To book a ticket email: [email protected]