THE CITIZEN’S ASSEMBLY on biodiversity loss has made 159 recommendations to the State in order to protect biodiversity and expressed disappointment at a perceived failure to adequately fund, implement and enforce existing laws and policies.

The report states that this must change, and that sufficient funding and increased expenditure should be provided for the enforcement of national and EU biodiversity-related laws. 

Members also questioned whether the government was taking the biodiversity emergency, which was declared by the Dáil in 2019, seriously.

The assembly of 99 randomly selected citizens met at seven meetings over the course of 10 months to analyse the state of the country’s biodiversity.

Today’s report also recommended changes to the constitution to ensure people have a right to a clean, healthy and safe environment, as well as adding constitutional commitments to protect natural resources such as food, fresh water and air.

The assembly has been called the first national citizens’ assembly anywhere in the world to explore the issue.

Commenting on the final report, the chairperson of the Citizens’ Assembly Dr Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, said that it is now incumbent on members of the Oireachtas to study the report and act upon its recommendations.

“The Assembly’s recommendations are a call to action. They ask us all to re-evaluate our current practices across the whole of society and in industry, agriculture, social enterprise, local government, national agencies and government departments.”

“Future generations are depending on us to act now. Some sectoral interests and lobby groups may resist attempts to address biodiversity loss, but it is urgent that our policy makers, in particular our politicians, are supported in making bold decisions to protect, conserve and restore the natural environment in the interest of all of the people, present and future, of the island of Ireland.

“The reassuring greens of our landscape mask the loss we are experiencing of so many key elements of our natural environment. The figures that the Assembly heard are stark. And the problems are getting worse.

“Things must change,” she said. 

I have received the Recommendations & Report of the @CitizAssembly on Biodiversity Loss. Thank you to Chairperson @aoibhinn_ni_s for her leadership and to the citizens who gave huge time to this important work which will help us take action on biodiversity loss and restoration. pic.twitter.com/NbJEWSLJXj

— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) April 5, 2023

Dr Ni Shuilleabhain said the state was the worst offender when it came to breaching laws aimed at protecting the natural habitat.

“The first two recommendations here say that the state has fundamentally failed to protect nature, and one of the most worrying things about that was that it was the biggest transgressor of its own laws and EU laws,” she told the PA news agency.

She added that she had a commitment from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar that the report would go to an Oireachtas subcommittee before the summer recess.

The report contains a specific acknowledgement of the role of farmers as “the custodians of the land” and that the agriculture industry should be supported in conserving and restoring biodiversity.

The report includes 73 high-level recommendations and 86 sectoral-specific actions and priorities.

With additional reporting from PA