Green Party leader in climate change clarion call
CLIMATE change is the defining issue of our time, the Green Party leader in Northern Ireland has said.
Clare Bailey said it was a bigger threat than current concerns in constitutional politics.
Addressing her party’s conference in Belfast on Saturday, she continued: “A border down the Irish Sea or across the island of Ireland matters little in the face of climate breakdown. The effects of climate breakdown know no national boundaries and do not recognise lines drawn on a map.
“Many say they want a socalled new Ireland while others are concerned to maintain the United Kingdom at any cost.
“There is a new reality dawning for all of us — it’s called climate breakdown.”
The South Belfast Assembly member, who took over the party leadership from Steven Agnew in November, added: “I want those who promote the notion of a new Ireland to set out their position on mitigating climate change in this new dispensation, as well as protecting rights, providing health care and other public services, and creating a fairer and more just society.
“I’d also ask the same questions of those who avow the protection of the Union, particularly in a post-Brexit Britain.”
She said Brexit and a lack of progress on equality matters were impacting on the lives of everyone across Northern Ireland, particularly those with little economic power and influence.