President Catherine Connolly has criticised a lack of action taken on tackling climate change in her opening speech at the National Ploughing Championships.
President Connolly officially opened the championships in Screggan, Co Offaly, this afternoon.
She said it was unfortunate that this year’s championships was taking place “against the backdrop of unprecedented global heating due to climate change, causing the extreme weather events we see all around the world”.
“Significantly, as a country, we were to the forefront in declaring a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency seven years ago, in May 2019.
“That declaration was accompanied by a commitment to take transformative action.
“Regrettably, the stark statistics coming from a wide range of sources tell us that that action has not taken place,” President Connolly said.
She highlighted a recent report by the Copernicus Institute, which showed that western Europe experienced its hottest June-July on record.
“No doubt the heat and drought has affected the lives and livelihoods of many of you here today,” President Connolly said.
“Earlier this month, a report by the UN Environment Programme stated that, even in the most optimistic future, global heating will reach at least 1.8°C – well beyond the Paris Agreement of 1.5°C.
“Every fraction of a degree intensifies extreme weather events,” she said.
President Connolly added that in parallel with the climate statistics, statistics in relation to food imports and exports were “equally worrying”.