Member's statement: COP30: Brazil

Member's statement by Mr John Blair on 10 November 2025.

MLA

Mr John Blair

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

10 November 2025

Type

Member's statement

Business

Members' Statements

Heading

COP30: Brazil

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5224884

Read the official Assembly record

Text

As chair of the all-party group on climate action, I take this opportunity to mark the start of the 30th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties, otherwise known as COP30, hosted this year in Brazil. Each year at COP, leaders from across the globe are reminded of the scale of the challenge that we all face together. The theme this year is especially poignant, calling us not just to recognise the seriousness of climate change but to act collectively in the face of it. While Northern Ireland has experienced its own share of climate change — my constituency, South Antrim, for example, has increased and recurrent flooding — we must remember that other countries have been hit much harder, often with far fewer resources at their disposal to deal with it. Therefore, COP is an annual call to solidarity and shared purpose. We must not let political boundaries stifle our progress. It is far too easy to see climate action as someone else's responsibility or to delay necessary decisions out of short-term convenience. However, as elected representatives, we are entrusted with protecting the future for our constituents, our society and the natural world. That means embedding this year's COP vision into everything that we do in the Assembly. Collaboration is key, especially across parties, Departments and all levels of government. We must make and follow through on the difficult decisions that are necessary. I acknowledge the work that is taking place already: for example, the steps that have been taken by my colleague the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to deliver the long-standing Alliance Party policy to establish an independent environmental protection agency for Northern Ireland. Delivering such an agency will involve genuine collaboration and support from every Department and every party. The transparency and accountability that it will bring are crucial for safeguarding our natural world, as well as its being the ultimate invest-to-save measure. As COP30 begins, I remain hopeful that decisive action will finally match our words and that agreements forged this week will lead to progress that benefits not only our natural world but our people and our economy. This is not the time for delay or denial on climate action, as advocated by some; it is time now for that decisive action.

380 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:43 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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