Climate finance is the best contribution that Ireland can make to the COP28 climate negotiations taking place in Dubai, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.
He said that as a small but wealthy nation, Ireland's best contribution would be to help poorer and more vulnerable nations invest the climate-related adaptations they must make, and to contribute to the "loss and damage" fund that leaders agreed to set up yesterday.
Mr Varadkar said that he would announce Ireland’s contribution to the fund during his formal address on behalf of Ireland at the conference tomorrow.
He said Ireland will honour the commitment it has already made to increase its annual contribution to international climate finance to €225 million per year and that any contribution he announces to the new "loss and damage" fund will out of that money.
The Taoiseach said a lot of countries make promises and then do not honour them, so rather than making any new financial promises he said Ireland will ensure it delivers on the financial promise it has already made to help other countries.
He added that while climate finance was the best thing Ireland can bring to the global table, Ireland's contribution at home should be all about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and scaling up and prioritising climate adaptation.
He said that Ireland was negotiating at COP28 as part of the European Union and that the European Union is leading in climate action and setting a good example.
He added that Ireland was not succeeding in reducing emissions and increasing climate adaptation fast enough at home but that at a forum such as COP28 "we need to put our money where our mouth is and help poorer countries to reduce emissions. By doing we will help ourselves".
Later, Mr Varadkar said he had a "really good conversation" with Brazil's president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on the sidelines of COP28.
He said he told Mr da Silva about the Brazilian man who intervened in the "terrible attack" at the school on Parnell Street in Dublin last week and thanked him.
Mr Varadkar said he had a chance to invite him to Ireland again as he said he wants Ireland to "upgrade" its relations with Brazil.
Mr Varadkar said other conversations included one with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"A country that is of course close to my own heart with my dad being from India but also a country we want to upgrade our relationship with too," he added.
He said while the COP summit is about highlighting the important issue of climate, it is also an opportunity to have lots of meetings with many counterparts that would otherwise be hard to arrange.
