March 2024 marked 10 years of An Taisce’s Climate Committee, a voluntary group of people dedicated to climate action in Ireland. At a celebration held on March 12th, memories of and hopes for the group were shared. A few of the founding members were there and dug deep into the archives to recount tales of struggle, perseverance and ultimately triumph. New members spoke of their appreciation for the committee, expectations of themselves and the group as we enter our second decade.
The overwhelming sentiment is still one of camaraderie. Of sharing a safe space with like minded people. A shared commitment to changing the systems that so desperately need changing if we are to prevent the chaotic trajectory we are on as the climate breaks down.
While we celebrated the triumphs we acknowledged that they may not have been perceived as wins to the untrained eye. We noted the coincidental changes in policy and practise of certain actors and agencies following our campaigns to highlight inadequacies. We appreciated the awareness our work raised.
One major campaign was the issue of false balance. This is where climate denial is given as much air time as the consensus of the science. It is bad practice to pit a climate denier head to head with a climate scientist. Generally speaking deniers are well versed in aversion tactics, deception, blatant and subtle lies. When given equal airtime on a platform, where the host is not well versed in the science, a denier can go completely unchallenged. We pursue any improvements we can make in the mainstream media to limit the damage of denial. However social media is a whole other ballgame. We would need an army to take on the disinformation there so the valiant efforts by our members are to be commended.
Which brings me to hate. There is no doubt about it – we attract plenty of hate. You would swear we were benefitting from fighting pollution or had something to gain above everyone else by mitigating climate breakdown. At the end of the day An Taisce is the National Trust in Ireland, for over 75 years and our role is to protect our country for this and future generations. We take that very seriously. Climate change is the greatest threat to life on earth. As well as devastating the natural environment it will undermine society. The geopolitical consequences are a grave concern and getting worse as the climate deteriorates.
Another win was An Taisce losing a high profile case against an extremely polluting development that had been denied permission in another country. Membership shot up as concerned citizens joined an organisation that clearly takes climate action seriously. We have proven, numerous times, that we are not afraid to speak truth to power.
There were tales of the times we welcomed world renowned guest speakers, with Kevin Anderson coming out on top of the polls. Kevin is a founder of Climate Uncensored. We also hold a monthly education slot with guest speakers to support our lifelong learning.
I was a founding member and only woman on the committee for a good number of years. It was predominantly academics who were attracted from the start. As someone who has an aversion to academia I made it my business to repeat the need to speak in a language everyone can interpret. I didn’t always succeed but I have learned to accept that sometimes the academic speak is relevant to the audience. Everyone agrees that we are blessed for having so many experts around the same table.
Now we have more women involved and others have come and gone as they progressed in their education and careers. Actions speak volumes and it is easy to see that An Taisce is committed to climate action. As well as a growing number of volunteers, more of the staff are getting involved as it becomes obvious protection of the environment, climate action and sustainable development must be the top priorities for An Taisce, as the national trust.
I am so proud of what we have achieved and look forward to the next decade or camaraderie, shared purpose and commitment to climate action.
Theresa O’Donohoe
March 2024
TheresaOD.com 