Maynooth Green Campus Statement on the decision by US President Donald Trump to renege on the commitments made in December 2015 as part of the Paris agreement signed under the United Nations Convention on Climate Change.
It is a very sad and grim day indeed when the President of the United States, against all the evidence, extensive research, and worldwide efforts to achieve a consensus on fighting climate change, decides to renege on the most significant agreement so far reached.
The decision is both morally wrong and flies in the face of enlightened rational argument. It is morally wrong because the impact of climate change is felt extensively throughout the least advantaged parts of the world while the drivers of global warming are located in the fossil-fuel driven economies of the wealthiest parts of the world. Indeed, the United States has historically made the highest contribution to anthropogenic climate change compared to any other country in the world.
This decision strips the United States Presidency of moral authority across the world and indeed across the USA itself on this question.
However, the decision is also questionable on grounds of rationality. The imperatives of climate change will drive investment out of the fossil fuel sectors. Indeed, it is already beginning to happen. The choice is stark - in the 21st century, humankind either finds different ways to underpin its civilisation and standards of living, based on renewable and sustainable forms of energy, transport, industry, services and agriculture, or will face the consequences of "business as usual". These add up to profound and chaotic climate change, including extensive droughts, flooding, rising sea levels and, ultimately, a multifaceted existential crisis.
One must ask what rational motivation lies behind this decision: it is hard to avoid the conclusion that it serves only narrow economic interests and governments, firmly rooted in coal- and oil-based energy, transportation and other economic sectors that profit in the short term, while fuelling climate change. It is well known that such interests heavily fund the climate denial lobby, just as the cigarette industry sponsored fake research denying the evidence that smoking damages health. Indeed the Trump election campaign was heavily indebted to support from these sectors.
In that context, it is indeed correct to say that the position adopted by the Trump administration is that of a rogue government, flying in the face of the other 194 governments who signed up to the Paris agreement. Indeed, the United States not only signed the agreement in 2015 but also subsequently ratified it (April 2016) and entered it into force (November 2016). The decision is wanton, narrowly grounded, short-term, and morally repugnant. In relation to which countries or leaders may lay claim to "greatness", future generations will decide not on the basis of what the powerful do to get their way, but of whether they lived up to their responsibility and did what they ought to do when faced with the great questions of their time.
The Maynooth Green Campus Committee promotes partnership between Maynooth University, Saint Patrick's College, Maynooth, and Trócaire, on climate justice, and is committed to best practice on environmental sustainability on campus. Maynooth University is the first University in Ireland (June 2015) to commit itself to a fossil free investment policy, and has no investments in fossil fuel related funds.
Maynooth Green Campus Committee
Dr. J. Larragy
Chair, Maynooth Green Campus
E: greencampus@mu.ie
T: +353 1 7084572
M: 086 8371025