The United Nations COP climate conference is on the verge of becoming irrelevant, according to a junior Government minister.

Colm Brophy is attending the annual conference as it continues in Egypt today.

In an interview with Newstalk, the Fine Gael junior minister said the finals days of annual conference see more resolutions than New Years’ Eve – and they are not followed through on by world leaders.

Irrelevant

He warned that, unless larger nations start taking their commitments seriously, the conference will be under water within 20 years.

“I am incredibly critical of what happens now at COP,” he said.

“COP is on the verge now of turning itself into an irrelevancy. The reason I say that - and it is a very stark allegation to make - is that you have for a two-week period, the world leaders coming forward and they make agreements but they don’t honour the agreements and they don’t implement them.”

“There is a definition of madness in doing the same thing over and over again.”

Resolutions

He said major players like the US, China and the EU must lead the charge if we are to make the necessary changes.

“If we keep going with the same level of implementation, COP47 will probably be held underwater,” he said.

“People come together for two weeks and there is more good intentions and more new promises than you get in the first two weeks of January – and they are certainly not implemented in the rest of the year.

“If COP wants to become relevant again, then we need to see real implementations by the Chinas, by the US, by the European Union.”

This afternoon, US President Joe Biden will address the meeting – 10 months after bringing the US back into the Paris Climate Accord.

He is expected to outline America’s strong commitment to climate action, highlighting the $370bn his administration pledged to climate measures in august.

Additional reporting Michael Staines.