SO MUCH WAS happening last week, you could be forgiven for missing Fine Gael’s latest strategic communication; a social media campaign called Green Week.

Several Fine Gael politicians including the Taoiseach made short videos highlighting ways for individuals to reduce their environmental impact.

If we were living in the 2000s, this might have been considered a positive contribution.

But we live in the 2010s, which made Green Week come across as dated and out-of-touch to the point of unsettling.

Maybe Fine Gael still thinks it’s the 2000s. It would at least explain its housing policy. The 2000s were a time when a lot of focus was placed on how individuals can lead a more eco-friendly life. There is always something to be said for personal responsibility but that will not stop climate change by itself.

How we get and make use of our energy and food is what drives climate change. This is a large structural issue that governments and a few dozen corporations are now capable of acting on. 

Second-worst contributor to carbon emissions in the EU

Yet the Fine Gael government launched Green Week after opposing more ambitious climate change targets at EU level. After delaying legislation to cut down on waste, microbeads and fossil fuel production. After raising Ireland’s carbon emissions to the point where we are the second worst contributor in the EU.

Can’t see the video? Click here

The outcome of its environmental policy has been starkly neglectful for a party that pitches itself as the “responsible” one.

Green Week was a great opportunity for it to announce its new proactive approach to climate action. Instead, it told us we should plug out our chargers and get a reusable cup and so on. It goes beyond condescending since the public is actually well ahead of Fine Gael on sustainability.

I have written before about how representative democracy would serve the public better by integrating forms of direct democracy. This has already been applied to Irish climate policy, with the Citizens’ Assembly producing a strong report on actions we must take to stop climate change.

Citizens can deliberate on this kind of thing and lead to policy formation that’s agreeable to more of the public. This would certainly help a great deal on a local level, giving local communities control over the development of renewable energy projects.

There is now an Oireachtas committee to examine the Citizens’ Assembly report. If it leads to actual climate action, then I was wrong to doubt Fine Gael.

Will they be around in 30 or 40 years?

I want the government to do well at this. Ireland is well-placed to be a world leader in two areas that will define this century; green energy and sustainable agriculture. Fine Gael’s actions have so far fallen short of that wonderful opportunity.

Do Fine Gael politicians not think they will be around in 30 or 40 years? What is going to happen to them? As climate change gets worse, what will communities think of them? What will their legacy be at their funeral? Will we still be expected to defer to the politicians who put us at risk?

I have written elsewhere about how bizarre it is the pseudoscience of climate change denial gets so much coverage. Is it not also dangerously delusional for a country to accept climate change but deny how much more needs to be done about it?

This is why their approach to Green Week was frankly a bit frightening. My death is now likely to be caused by climate change. This is true for most of these politicians too. Even if we prevent catastrophe, this is a shadow that will hang over this century and all of our lives.

When will this finally hit home for people?

And when will we stop electing politicians who will not prioritise stopping climate change?

Jonathan Victory is a writer and filmmaker living in Dublin and a member of the Green Party. He is co-host of the Quantum of Friendship podcast and has written for TheJournal.ie, Headstuff and Film Ireland.