Three Trinity students’ submissions to the Citizen’s Assembly on climate change were shortlisted as some of the most important. The list was circulated to members in advance of the Citizen’s Assembly first meeting on climate change.
Speaking to Trinity News, Jessica Dolliver, chair of Trinity College Dublin (TCD) Environmental Society who submitted on their behalf, said that “submitting was important for me because it is was one of the few ways that politically engaged citizens can have the complexity of their views heard by politicians”.
The TCD Environmental Society submission addressed the need for a transition from a carbon based economy to a carbon neutral economy. This process, Dolliver says, will result in job loss and it is imperative that the government support those affected. “We are showing solidarity with the working class in the face of climate change”, commented Dolliver.
The chairperson and treasurer of the Zoological Society, Daniel Dunleavy and Jessica Beresford respectively, were also shortlisted by the Citizen’s Assembly.
The Citizen’s Assembly met to discuss how the State can make Ireland a leader on the issue of climate change. The spokesman of Stop Climate Chaos Coalition, Jerry Mac Evilly, said he hopes the assembly “will shake up Ireland’s policies on climate change” through making recommendations to the Government.
The Assembly members’ recommended on November 5, that there should be an increase in expenditure on public transport as well as a tax on agricultural emissions. A student group in Trinity called ‘TCD Plastic solutions’ was launched earlier this week in order to eliminate the sale of single use plastics on campus, including plastic bottles and cutlery. So far, the group have collected over 1,000 signatures, and once 3,000 signatures have been reached, the petition will then be handed to the College Board.
Trinity has also established a Sustainable Campus Advisory Committee to advise the provost on sustainability, and compiled their first annual Sustainability. Their first report showed that Trinity has reduced its waste in recent years and fell 1% shy of reaching its target of a 50% recycling rate.
