Courtney McGrailJohn Reid
Trócaire has given a cautious welcome to a major global environmental agreement reached last Saturday in Rwanda.
The landmark agreement limits the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in the effort to combat global warming. HFCs are a key contributor to greenhouse gases, and environmental groups hope the Kigali Agreement, which modifies the 1987 Montreal Protocol, will reduce global warming by a half of a degree Celsius by the end of this century.
Terms
Trócaire remains concerned, however, that the agreement does not come fully into force for eight years given that, under its terms, developing countries (including China) will not start taking action until 2024 – with a handful of other nations lobbying for, and gaining an extension until 2028.
Richer nations, such as the United States, Japan, and the nations of Europe, will commence their cuts in 2019.
Spokesman Eoghan Rice said the agreement “was a very positive step, but Trócaire is concerned about the [eight-year] timeline”.
Trócaire also criticised the Irish Government’s approach to the issue, expressing disappointment that Ireland has yet to ratify the Paris Agreement, despite being a signatory to it.
The Paris Agreement was signed in 1987 and is designed to limit the rise in global temperatures.
Mr Rice claimed that the goals of the Paris Agreement need to be “ramped up”, but that nothing would happen “unless the political will is there”.
Concerns
The concerns voiced by Trócaire echo those enunciated by Pope Francis in his major encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’, in which he tackled the issues of global warming and environmental harm.
More recently, in his message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, the Pontiff lamented that “we have sinned and mankind has turned God’s creation into a polluted wasteland” full of “debris, desolation and filth”.