Most people would consider it odd if a person making a handsome donation in a collection box then kicked the collector smartly in the shins. An imperfect analogy, I know, but something similar is going on in Ireland at the moment, writes Breda O'Brien.
We have an honourable record on development aid. By 2012, it looks as if we will meet the target of donating 0.7 per cent of GDP to the developing world. We will be only the sixth nation to have achieved that target.
Concern for the developing world is to be found in every area of Irish society. The high profile of Irish missionaries in the past, not to mention the growing number of lay people who work in development today, has made us conscious of the needs of poorer countries.
Yet ironically, 2012 will also be the year that we overshoot our Kyoto target. There is something really odd going on here. It is as if we have not quite processed the fact that climate change is going to affect the poorest regions in a drastic fashion. A rise of one metre in sea level would mean 30 million Bangladeshis would be displaced from the low-lying delta areas. Sub-Saharan Africa, already one of the poorest regions in the world, would face increased drought and desertification.
Of the OECD countries, we are the sixth-highest donors of development aid and the fifth-highest carbon polluters. Carbon trading is not the same as taking the problem seriously. We have always rightly prided ourselves on our high level of understanding of development issues. Yet we seem to be missing the climate change piece of the puzzle.
As Oisín Coghlan of Friends of the Earth has pointed out, taking carbon emissions alone, Ireland emitted more than 10 tonnes per person in 2003.
Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda, four of Ireland's priority aid countries in Africa, each produced 0.1 tonne per person. So every Irish person is responsible for 100 times the carbon pollution of the average Ethiopian or Ugandan.
When it comes to climate change, there is an unhealthy twin-track approach.
Ireland Aid, the governmental aid agency, is making all the right noises, but you also have Bertie declaring that it is not his job to save the planet. Nobody is saying that it is, but how come we don't use the same kind of arguments about development aid that we make about climate change? When it comes to development, we are quite happy to take moral leadership.
We don't mutter about it being pointless unless the US and China take the lead. Instead, we do the right thing. Kyoto might have been far from perfect, but if the EU had not taken the lead, we would not have had the change, insufficient as it is, that we now witness in the US.
It is questionable how serious George Bush is about tackling climate change. It is not clear what he takes the language coming from the G8 summit about "seriously considering" cutting emissions by 50 per cent by 2050 to mean. However, that he is even making the right kind of noises is proof of the power of public opinion.
It was always going to be difficult to meet the Kyoto targets, because of the extraordinary boom in our economy. However, that very same boom presented us with choices, and we have consistently taken the route that would take us further away from meeting the target rather than closer.
It is very interesting to see what Bertie can do when he puts his mind to it. He took his eye off the ball the first time with the Nice treaty but, like it or not, the second time around with his not inconsiderable influence right behind it, the treaty was passed. Bertie has never signed up in the same way to Kyoto.
No matter who is in power for the next 20 years, climate change must be a priority. Previous governments made tackling unemployment and emigration a main concern, and witness the progress that has come about on those issues. The same can happen with climate change.
Conventional wisdom has it that the role of the inspirational leader in politics is in the past, that all people want is a reliable manager of the economy. Yet even if politicians were to set their sights as low as managerial politics, they cannot evade the challenge of climate change. A good manager keeps an eye on what is coming down the tracks in the future.
As Sir Nicholas Stern pointed out in his landmark report, the costs of attempting to deal with climate change will be much higher than the costs of attempting to prevent some of the worst damage.
The future is stark if people do not mobilise now. Governments respond to public concern. Stop Climate Chaos is a coalition of civil society organisations, an umbrella group if you will, who want people to use their umbrellas tomorrow to make a point.
They are hosting Umbrella Action Day at the Martello Tower in Sandymount in Dublin at 3pm as one of an ongoing series of attempts to put pressure on government.
It will be a fun event, with picnickers and face paints, and the high point of the day will be choreographer Muirne Bloomer leading some dancers and the crowd in an umbrella dance. Gene Kelly, eat your heart out.
Amidst all the jollity, there will be a serious message being sent to whoever ends up in power. This coalition of development, environment, faith and youth groups wants a law that provides for a carbon budget that is analogous to the financial budget. They want a 3 per cent reduction year-on-year in carbon emissions. They want the Government to take seriously the need to keep the rise in global surface temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius or less. And they want us to take the lead in helping developing countries deal with the negative impacts of climate change.
Umbrellas shelter us from rain and parasols from the sun, but the developing countries are going to need more than this to cope with what is ahead. If you are within striking distance, you might like to grab an umbrella and head on down to Sandymount Strand tomorrow.
For further information, see www.stopclimatechaos.ie or call 086-1744938 or 01-6394653