We live in a financial system that does not compensate for the environmental and social damage it causes.Impoverished countries continue to face the worst of the impacts of climate chaos, and have the least resources to deal with it. Attempts by the UN’s climate conferences (COPs) to address this incredibly unjust power imbalance - such as compensation for “loss and damage” - continue to disappoint. Next Tuesday March 3rd, Friends of the Earth will host a discussion with Financial Justice Ireland this topic, in the Teacher’s Club, Parnell Square, Dublin.

Financial Justice Ireland's work examines how the financial system - global borrowing, lending, investment and speculation - impact on lives in the Global South and here in Ireland. As with every area of life, climate change is both driven by and itself altering the financial system. This seminar will examine how the various options proposed to tackle climate change impact on financial justice.

• How does lending to poor countries to tackle climate change impact on their debt burdens?
• Is it right to require disaster-prone nations to buy into private insurance schemes to insure against disaster-related damages?
• What are the implications of privately financing the climate transition, for workers' rights, public services and sustainability?

We will also be joined by Clodagh Daly, who will speak about fossil fuel producer subsidies in Ireland, focusing on those allocated to natural gas. Natural gas is lauded by the fossil fuel industry and policymakers as a 'transition fuel’, yet it is a highly dangerous fossil fuel, consisting predominantly of methane, which traps heat between 86-100 time more than carbon dioxide. Producer subsidies that work to cut the costs and risks associated with bringing new natural gas reserves into production threaten to derail the holistic social and ecological transformation that is needed. Clodagh’s presentation will examine how the provision of public loans, tax breaks, infrastructure, and publicly funded research generate staggering corporate benefits at enormous public expense. What would an alternative financial system that is in line with ecological limits and social justice look like? Join us on March 3rd at 7pm in the Teacher’s Club to flesh out this question and determine how we as those concerned about environmental injustice can ensure our work and our activism contributes towards financial justice as well as environmental justice.