Ireland and Northern Ireland

Written By Mari Margil

The Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights (CDER) is working with partners in Ireland and Northern Ireland to advance the rights of nature.  Our work began there in Northern Ireland many years ago – as communities faced gold mining and other threats – and has grown into an effort to protect nature across the island of Ireland – in an “all-Ireland” and “all-island” strategy to advance the rights of nature.

Today, in Ireland, there is a growing effort to advance the rights of nature into Ireland’s national constitution.  In Northern Ireland, efforts are building to protect the rights of Lough Neagh – an ecosystem suffering significant algae blooms and pollution – and source of 40% of Northern Ireland’s drinking water.



Ireland

In 2023, the rights of nature was recommended to be enshrined in Ireland’s national constitution.

In Spring 2023, the Irish Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss recommended that the rights of nature be enshrined within Ireland’s Constitution to protect biodiversity. 

So, in the Summer of 2023, CDER met with a parliamentary member and their staff, scholars, activists, environmental NGOs, and others in Ireland to develop strategies for advancing the rights of nature recommendation within the report.

In Fall 2023, the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action of Ireland’s National Parliament (Oireachtas) reviewed the citizens’ Assembly recommendations.  It held a series of hearings, and in October 2023, CDER was invited to testify to the Joint Committee.  CDER’s full opening statement may be found here.

CDER’s Mari Margil and Thomas Linzey testified before the Joint Committee, focusing on how the rights of nature has advanced through law making and court decisions, beginning in the United States, to laws and court rulings in Colombia, Uganda, and elsewhere, addressing urgent environmental crises that existing environmental laws fail to address.  They also shared their experience consulting with Ecuador’s Constituent Assembly as it drafted a new constitution in 2008, and how the rights of nature constitutional provisions have been used to protect Ecuador’s natural environment.  The new constitution was approved through a nationwide vote, making Ecuador the first and only country in the world to have protected the rights of nature through their national constitution. 

In December 2023, the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action recommended that the Irish Government advance a national referendum on a amendment to enshrine the rights of nature in the country’s constitution.  The Joint Committee report may be found at this link.  Read our press release here.  In January 2024, the Irish government issued its new Biodiversity Plan outlining the need for the government to determine how to advance the rights of nature in the country.

Northern Ireland

CDER is assisting communities and civil society organizations in Northern Ireland to advance the rights of nature. 

Much of the recent focus in Northern Ireland has been on restoring and protecting Lough Neagh – by recognizing the rights of Lough Neagh – the largest freshwater lake in the U.K. which has suffered massive algae blooms and serious ecosystem degradation.

 

We have worked with Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland over a number of years, involving education and training, outreach, and engagement with grassroots groups and local councils. 

In 2021, several district councils adopted rights of nature resolutions coming out of this engagement – Belfast, Derry City and Strabane, and Fermanagh and Omagh.  Inspired by actions in Northern Ireland, the Donegal Council in Ireland also adopted a rights of nature resolution that year.

 In Summer 2023, Lough Neagh suffered a severe toxic blue-green algae bloom, impacting the lake ecosystem, wildlife, and human health.  Lough Neagh’s catchment area includes counties on both sides of the Ireland/Northern Ireland border, and provides 40% of the drinking water for Northern Ireland.  The alga is a result of many factors, including agricultural pollution and climate change.

Local councils in N.I. have adopted resolutions calling for the recognition of the rights of Lough Neagh, a key focus moving forward. 

In both Northern Ireland and Ireland, the growing environmental crises are being recognized as matters of “all island” concern. 

Central to the response to these crises are growing calls to recognize the legal rights of nature in Northern Ireland and Ireland.  

Mari Margil
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