Cork Intergenerational Climate Conference

Nov 13th 2019

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children"

To read all the comment on Twitter click the hashtag #IntergenClimateConf

The Cork Intergenerational Climate Conference

Why Intergenerational Justice?

There is a growing realisation that because of climate change the coming generations will inherit a world that is impoverished and perhaps even unliveable. This conference encouraged and deepened an understanding of climate action and intergenerational justice. It provided an opportunity for young people and adults to share their perspectives, to find inspiration to become agents of change, and to provide steps towards personal and community action. The conference featured speakers and dialogue from across generations.

An early and wet start greeted all who attended the seminal Intergenerational Climate Conference in Cork's wonderfully apt City Hall. Nearly 200 people of all ages gathered to listen, discuss, share and learn more about the most pressing issue of our time. The damp start did nothing to dampen the positivity felt by all who arrived. Running to a busy and full schedule all the big hitters (below) came out to offer their messages of hope and encouragement to this ageless group of climate activists. Even President Higgins caught the train down to be with us and his passion for human rights and climate activism couldn't but inspire all who had the privilege to attend and hear his keynote address.

The Intergenerational Climate Conference was the second of three events that President Higgins had in his diary this week that indicate our President's commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals. On Tuesday 12th November President Higgins hosted a seminar on 'Rethinking the Role of the State in fostering a Sustainable and Inclusive Economy', at Áras an Uachtaráin. The seminar was the first of a series of initiatives that the President will host during his second term. He is seeking to encourage spaces and actions that will facilitate the necessary steps towards new models of re-defined development, balancing economics, ecology, ethics and social cohesion. The final event that the President attended was a private screening of the Great Green Wall at the Reel Cinema in Blackpool Cork in his honour.

Report here in the Irish Examiner

Having attended with some of the Presentation Sisters from the South West and North East Province we were promptly separated from each other in order to mix it up with all who were to attend. This was a good move as today was to be different: we were not to be talking to ourselves as so often happens at events like this.

The photos above show some of the Presentation Sisters, Girls from Presentation Clonmel with Noel Buckley, the three students from Colaiste an Chroí Naofa and Carl and Eve with others including Lorna Gold of Trocaire.

Speakers at the Intergenerational Climate Conference.

from https://www.intergenclimatejustice.ie/

The first speaker invited to address the conference was Patrick McGrath, (a TY Student from Coláiste an Chroí Naofa, Carrignavar) who very quickly got to the point of his input; "Our Current Reality", that we consume, extract and dump far too much and that we give nothing back. He called for a personal change and urged that there is still time and hope and his ultimately positive tone was the perfect starting point of welcome for all. He had one polite request that we would not leave what we would hear at the conference behind us as we left. He can be assured that the conference hit a nerve and has tapped into something different about our Climate Activism that can only grow from here.

Next up was Dr. Tracey Skillington (UCC ) who gave some very interesting insights into climate activism and the law. Dr Skillington articulated the notion that up to this the legal system is concerned with a victim and a perpetrator who live in the same time period but that this is not necessarily the case when it comes to the detail of the Climate Cases being taken around the world. If it is assumed that previous generations (knowingly or unknowingly) exacerbated the conditions that gave rise to the felt climate change that we are witnessing today and that victims today are only but the tip of the iceberg as we can expect even more victims into the future. From this we can learn that victim and the perpetrator can now live at different times and that they may indeed never meet. In this way the law is evolving and her message to all is to take the bold step and take a case. In fact to do so, we should be aware that we will not win but that we will encourage a greater awareness of climate change. Given the intergenerational nature of the audience gathered and knowing that to take a case one must be at least 18, Dr Skillington hope that the elders might. The graphic captures the essence of Dr. Skillington's input.

Lorna Gold of Trócaire, and a long time Climate Activist, came to the podium and began by asking if the older people in the audience could put themselves in the shoes of the 15 year olds, many of whom are sat with us at the roundtables. If we can, she asserts that "we must engage as if our lives depended upon it, and a necessary strong intergenerational bond must be forged, maintained and grown. We must allow individual action to become collective action:

I+U=We

Lorna reminded us all that those who are opposed to change are very wealthy and very powerful but that they are in fact very few. So much progress has been made in one year, imagine the progress and the reach over the next couple of years. The message was clearly positive and hopeful and warning of despondency. Maria Henchi (Cork Educate Together) outlined that Climate Breakdown affects us all and that the only way to effectively and efficiently tackle this was with an intergenerational response that doesn't blame, as blaming she insists damages.

Our Climate Awareness Journey

Phyllis Power, Rachel Power, Caroline Jacob-Power,

Three generations of one family describe their climate awareness journey and how they made personal conversions. They described their new vegan diet, their holidays without flying, retrofitting their homes, reusing, reducing, recycling and re-purposing. They joined the Wilton Justice and Peace Group in Cork and have worked with them to house one Syrian Family. They are acutely aware of the work it takes to house just one family and the message for us all is that we can expect far more people to flee their homes because of Climate Change and we must be ready. Caroline the youngest contributor spoke of her way of living as being difficult and also as being a source of teasing and mocking by others in school. Is this what is meant by Climate Anxiety? No but it certainly creates it's own anxious moments. Much of the essence of this contribution was captured by the graphic below.

Fr Seán Healy (Social Justice Ireland) spoke of the "Just Transition" that is necessary as we embark together on an intergenerational journey that is key to addressing and shaping our future as we begin to address the most pressing existential crisis that faces us all. Fr Seán spoke of a series of crises that thrive in our society. He aluded to a Housing, Health, Education, Transport and Work Crisis. He cited the difficulties that impinge on our rural development but more than all of this Fr. Seán helped us see the solutions, the plans and the way forward together. All of the crises mentioned have a solution that can be found in the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs). Ireland's progress of the SDGs are measured annually by Social Justice Ireland. "What can I do?" Fr Seán asked. Well there are a number of things that we can all do:

Get informed
Make the small changes as they can have a big impact.
Get involved
Advocate.

The graphic below offers a pictorial view of Fr. Seán's contribution.

Margaret Desmond, (EPA) spoke of the need to have a National Dialogue on Climate Action. She explained how the recently launched Climate Action Plan links to their work and how it applies locally in forums such as the Public Participation Networks. Have a look at he graphic below

The final activity before lunch was an ECO UNESCO workshop where we were asked to "Build a New System" together. We were asked to consider what systems we would like to see in an ideal world by 2050. We were told to dream, design, describe and draw together. Each table was graced with a facilitator (Kathy in our case), who moved us along gently. The time flew. We spoke, we drew, we laughed, we questioned, we listened, we wrote, we thought, we contributed and then laughed a little more. We forgot the age difference. (Was there one?) We just got on with the work. We spoke about social media and it's uses and abuses, and we articulated worries going forward. We learned about each other and then our work was collected, our actions hung, our views displayed on Slido and all this before lunch. Have a look at some of the pictures below.

Following a busy lunch catching up with so many we were called back to our tables to await the entrance of President Michael D Higgins who travelled to Cork by train to deliver the keynote address. He never fails to deliver. He has a renowned back catalogue of work as a teacher, poltician, sociologist, writer, poet, human rights activist which makes him the most eminently qualified in the room to help us to collectively discern a new intergenerational way forward. I looked around the room while he was speaking and to say that every head faced forward would be truthful. (This was the first time that I had seen this type of engagement during the day and it wasn't just because he is the President). He made himself accessible, he had obviously prepared well, he congratulated and thanked all who attended. He told us all that we should not take being dismissed. And that powerful people will dismiss us all. "You cannot go on imagining the change you can make unless you address the issue of power". He reminded us all to challenge the numbers and not to accept all that you see and hear. Check. There are those who will insidiously try to shape or change our opinion or view.

President Higgins reminded us all that we have heard often the clichéd phrase, "we have all being living beyond our means". We have not ALL being living beyond our means", he boomed. The poor haven't got the means. We must be careful not to ask the poor to do with less, to give up more as we make the intergenerational Just Transition. "The starting point is human need", "What does sufficient mean?"

Towards the end he spoke warmly when he said "I wish you all a beautiful life and I wish you success as you wish everyone else a beautiful life." He told the room "I am only interested in being with with people who are emancipators, like those gathered together in this room". More o f the President's insightful speech can be gleaned from the graphic below.

Professor Peadar Kirby was the respondent after the President left and he spoke of the need for a "subversion of the assumptions" and explained the word "subversive" as meaning to disrupt from below. We must look to how people come to hold assumptions. He quoted Hildegard of Bingen in relation to believing in oneself: “You understand so little of what is around you because you do not use what is within you.” And as if to further encourage our belief in ourselves he quoted Murray Bookchin when he said, “If we do not do the impossible we shall be faced with the unthinkable.”. He reminded us of the "Nath cainte", Ar scáth a chéile a mhairimid" (We live in each others shadows and this refers to our dependence upon one another for shelter and shade). Professor Kirby reminded us all of the struggle we have together and that we can learn much from Laudato Si as we go forward together.

The wrap up gave thanks to all for this really wonderful day, the first of many hopefully.

Reports of the day:

President Michael D Higgins said the time for debate on the science of climate change has long passed

World on verge of 'global ecological catastrophe' - Higgins more here RTE Paschal Sheehy

President Michael D Higgins, chatting with Eoin O'Brien and Zoe Crowley of Colaiste Mhuire, Buttevant, at the Cork Conference on Intergenerational Climate Justice at City Hall, Cork. Picture: David Keane.

President Higgins: All of us must act now on climate catastrophe More here The Irish Examiner Eoin English

The "bios" below I found on the https://www.intergenclimatejustice.ie/ website

Fr Seán Healy

Social Justice Ireland

Fr. Seán Healy SMA is one of the most respected voices in Ireland calling for Social Justice and Change. With his colleagues in Social Justice Ireland, they continually highlight the ongoing inequalities that prevent our poorest and most vulnerable citizens from accessing their inherent rights.

Margaret Desmond

Environmental Protection Agency

Margaret Desmond is the Senior Manager of Climate Services for the Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland.

Margaret specialises in government advice and opinion, sectoral and regional policy, planning and decision making support for climate change adapatation

Dr Tracey Skillington

University of Cork

Dr. Tracey Skillington is Director of the BA in Sociology, University College Cork. Her teaching and research span a broad range of topics, including climate justice, natural resource distribution, intergenerational inequalities, the sociology of law and human rights. Recent publications include Climate Justice & Human Rights (Palgrave: New York), Climate Change and Intergenerational Justice (Routledge: London) and forthcoming A Critical Theory of Societal Trauma (Routledge).

Denise Cahill

Healthy Cities Cork

Denise is the Healthy Cities Co-coordinator in Cork City and an Adjunct Lecturer in the School of Public Health in University College Cork. Denise will chair the conference.

Denise has a BSc in Sport & Exercise Science from University of Limerick, MA in Health Promotion from NUI Galway and a H.Dip in Healthcare Management from the Royal College of Surgeons. She has worked as a researcher in the area of Public Health and has been employed in the area of health promotion for the past 20 years. Denise has worked in the areas of Schools Health Promotion, Physical Activity and Tobacco Control. Denise works at inter-agency level to support the development of partnerships between and among the community, voluntary and statutory sectors. Denise has developed programmes and coordinated projects at local level; at national level and at European level. Working with the political representative for Healthy Cities in Cork City and Chair of the WHO Healthy Cities Political Vision Group, Denise has supported the development of the Copenhagen Consensus Policy for European Healthy Cities, launched in May 2018. This phase of Healthy Cities will seek to support the co-benefits of action for health and climate change. Denise has a personal interest and commitment to climate action as a volunteer with SHEP Earth Aware.

Prof. Peadar Kirby

Clough Jordan Eco Village

Peadar Kirby is Professor Emeritus of International Politics and Public Policy in the University of Limerick. He holds a PhD from the London School of Economics. Since his retirement in February 2012, he has been adjunct professor in the Faculty of Political Science, University of Iceland, Reykjavik and adjunct professor to the Network on Politics, Power and Society at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. In the autumn of 2012 he held the UNESCO Chair in international development studies at the University of Valencia, Spain where he continues to lecture on the MA in Political Economy. He has published widely on Ireland’s model of development, on Latin American politics and political economy, on globalisation, and on vulnerability/resilience. His latest book, entitled The Political Economy of the Low-Carbon Transition: Pathways Beyond Techno-optimism, written with Tadhg O’Mahony, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in January 2018. He is currently writing a book entitled Karl Polanyi and Today’s Political Crisis: Transforming Market Society in the Era of Climate Change to be published by Bloomsbury in 2020. He is co-editor with Ernest Garcia and Mercedes Martinez-Iglesias of Transitioning to a Post-carbon Society: Degrowth, Austerity and Wellbeing (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017) and co-editor with Deiric Ó Broin of Adapting to Climate Change: Governance Challenges (Glasnevin Publishing, 2015). He was until recently a director of Sustainable Projects Ireland, the co-operative company and educational charity which founded and is managing Cloughjordan ecovillage, Co. Tipperary where he lives.

Saoi O'Connor

Student Activist

Saoi O’Connor is a 16 year old from Skibbereen who has been climate striking on Fridays outside Cork City Hall since January 2019. She is passionate about justice in all its forms especially climate justice. Her work protesting the climate crisis has brought her into a network of likeminded friendships all over the world from Sweden to Uganda to Palestine.

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