President Higgins highlights need for action on Climate Change
Published: Fri 6th Mar, 2020 | 11:28
“The principles of climate justice require this generation, knowing that climate change will have devastating effects on future generations, not to violate the interests of those generations to come and to avoid causing them unnecessary suffering. Just as we owe a debt to those who are the victims of past exploitation, we owe a debt to those who might be future victims of our actions or inactions now."
- President Higgins, October 2015
President Michael D. Higgins has long advocated for urgent action to combat climate change, stating that climate change is the "most pressing existential crisis facing us all as a global community".
In his meetings with world leaders, and in his public speeches, the President has argued that all States, and all citizens, have a moral obligation to ensure a transition to a low-carbon society. Such a transition will not only require change at personal and household level, but also a radically different way of organising our society. The President has therefore called for a paradigm shift in economic policies, that incorporates the 'radicalism' of climate action, and that integrates the concerns for the economy, ecology and society.
Related events:
- President delivers keynote address at Engineers Ireland conference on climate action, 2020
- President addresses OECD ‘Confronting Planetary Emergencies’ event, 2020
- President hosts seminar ‘Rethinking the Role of the State in Fostering a Sustainable and Inclusive Economy’, 2019
- President addresses Cork Conference on Intergenerational Climate Justice, 2019
- President addresses UN General Assembly, 2019
- President gives keynote address at Fordham University, 2019
- President delivers keynote address at Leipzig University, 2019
- President addresses Cyprus House of Representatives, 2019
- Statement on Climate Change to the Climate Vulnerable Forum, 2018
- President Higgins welcomes UN Secretary General’s call on Climate Action, 2018
- President opens Social Justice Ireland public policy conference, 2017
- President addresses ICTU Biennual Conference, 2017
- Speech at the TASC Annual Conference “Achieving Sustainable Development: Of Principles and Some Obstacles”, 2016
- “Re-Defining Development, Taking Responsibility for Climate Change, 2015
- “Recovering Possibilities – Discovering the Rich Promise of a Moral Foundation to Economy & Society, 2015
- ‘The Power of Ideas for Climate – Making a New Beginning’, 2015
- 'Towards an Ethical Economy', 2013