It was my first time ever on the Tonight Show on Virgin TV during the week (Tuesday 12 December) and I was on to talk about COP28. At the time the negotiations hung in the balance and it was only the following morning that a deal was struck in Dubai. I remained hopeful throughout, knowing that in Ireland we have made incredible progress at phasing out fossil fuels. We are a small country in the great scheme of things but our progress here is showing the rest of the world the way. Much of that progress has been driven by Eamon Ryan, and as a lead negotiator at COP28 I felt he was not going to come away with a bad deal. Much will be written about COP28 in the months and years ahead. Some will decry it's not enough, and they're not wrong given the crisis we're in, but it has to be acknowledged as a floor of ambition rather than a ceiling. It is the first time ever that there's an international consensus about the need to transition away from fossil fuels.
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