Children of all ages will gather outside Leinster House this afternoon to demand urgent action on climate change from the Government.
The Children’s Rally is highlighting the fact that the young people of the world – and the generations that will follow them – will face the worst consequences of climate change.
The rally gets underway at Leinster House at 4pm this afternoon.
It comes ahead of a landmark legal action against the Irish Government that is due to get underway in the Four Courts this Tuesday.
The case, taken by Friends of the Irish Environment, aims to compel the Government to take the required action to mitigate the climate catastrophe facing future generations.
This afternoon’s rally will hear from a range of children, including 11-year-old Nicole Murray from Kilkenny.
“I won’t have a vote for another 7 years,” she said.
“But another 7 years of greenhouse gas emissions will be a disaster. Children need their voices to be heard.
“We always think of Ireland as a green country, but if we continue as we are, it will be nothing but a dump.
“To me wildlife is very important. But we are being very selfish, and we’re not taking care of animals and fish as we fill the oceans and beaches up with plastic.”
Landmark legal action
Friends of the Irish Environment said the legal action is “the first case in Ireland in which citizens are seeking to hold their government accountable for its role in knowingly contributing to dangerous levels of climate change.”
It said the current 2017 National Mitigation Plan does not fulfil Ireland’s human rights obligations, and accused the Government of failing in its attempts to address the issue of climate change.
8 year old and 3 year old’s placards ready to go. â¦@climatecaseireâ© Children’s Climate Rally, 4 pm Kildare St. #ClimateActionNow #actforclimate pic.twitter.com/HmGyK8bJg3
— Niamh Garvey (@NiamhAGarvey) January 19, 2019
“Individual action, no matter how well-intentioned, will have almost no effect without strong state leadership and multilateral cooperation,” it said in a statement.
“It is incumbent on the Irish government to do more.
“Climate Case Ireland argue that the government’s approval of the National Mitigation Plan in 2017 was a violation of Ireland’s Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 (the Climate Act 2015).
“The plan also falls far short of the steps required by the Paris Agreement on climate change.”
It warned that Ireland could face fines of between €3bn – €6bn per year if urgent action is not taken now.
One 8 year old Tipperary lad getting ready for today's #ClimateActionNow kids protest at Kildare St, Dublin 4pm #InMyName #ClimateStrike let's make our kids' future carbon free @climatecaseire pic.twitter.com/HDCslxoSaP
— Iva Pocock (@iva_pocock) January 19, 2019
