Mary Robinson on climate change: ‘Feeling “This is too big for me” is no use to anybody’

The former president of Ireland has a new raison d ’être: saving the planet. Yet, despite the dire warnings of this week’s IPCC report, she is surprisingly upbeatOn the morning that the world ’s leading climate scientists warn thatthe planet hasuntil 2030 to avert a global warming catastrophe, Mary Robinson appears suitably sombre. She wears black shoes, black trousers and a black sweater and perches at the end of a long table at her climate justice foundation, headquartered in an austere, imposing Georgian building opposite Trinity College Dublin. The only dash of brightness is a multicoloured brooch on her lapel. “It symbolises the sustainable development goals,” she says. “It’s the one good emblem that the United Nations has produced, so I like to wear it.”There seems little reason for cheer on this Monday. The landmark report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has just warned that urgent, unprecedented changes are needed to keep global warming to a maximum of 1.5C; even half a degree beyond this will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people. Donald Trump, rejecter of the Paris climate agreement, is riding high on the back ofBrett Kavanaugh ’s elevation to the US supreme court. Britain and the EU areconsumed by Brexit. Brazil is on course to elect a presidentwho wants to open the Amazon to agribusiness. Closer to home, the Irish government is flunking its climat...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Climate change United Nations Ireland Politics Source Type: news