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Immediate Release Large fines loom for the Government as the European Commission brings the Irish State back to court over its decade-long failure to carry out an environmental impact assessment for Ireland’s largest wind farm. The Environmental Pillar – a coalition of 28 national environmental organisations – welcomed the Commission’s decision which highlights the catastrophic failure […]

The Government must support the straightforward and progressive policies in the Green Party’s Waste Reduction Bill to tackle our escalating plastic problem, the Oireachtas Environment Committee heard today. Speaking before the Committee this afternoon, Mindy O’Brien, the Coordinator of VOICE – a leading environmental charity focused on tackling plastic pollution – told the Committee that […]

 Immediate Release The State must step up its game to tackle plastic pollution in the wake of the UK’s pledge to eliminate plastic waste by 2042, Ireland’s leading environmental coalition has said. Measures in the UK’s new 25 Year Environment Plan launched by UK Prime Minister Theresa May this morning include extending the UK’s plastic […]

Immediate Release Ireland’s leading environmental coalition warmly welcomes the High Court’s recognition of environmental rights in the Irish Constitution. In a judgement earlier today, Mr Justice Barrett recognised for the first time a constitutional right to environmental protection “that is consistent with the human dignity and well-being of citizens at large”. [1] In his judgement, […]

The State must stop incentivising farmers to engage in environmentally-damaging commercial timber schemes and shift support toward more sustainable native tree cover initiatives, Ireland’s leading environmental coalition has said. The comments from the Environmental Pillar – a coalition of 26 national environmental organisations –  follows the recent launch of the Irish Farmers’ Association’s (IFA) Five […]

The EPA’s damning indictment of our transport system’s contribution to poor air quality in Ireland underlies the urgent need to move away from polluting diesel and petrol vehicles. The environmental watchdog’s report on air quality in Ireland released today singles out traffic as a key pressure on air quality in our largest cities. [1] The […]

The Environmental Pillar welcomes the new Waste Tyre Management Regulations and calls on the Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment to give them their full support. However, the Pillar has learned that the Joint Oireachteas Committee scrutinising the legislation is being lobbied by the tyre Industry and by some TDs in an attempt […]

The Environmental Pillar has expressed extreme disappointment at the exclusion of any measures to equalise the cost of diesel and petrol in Ireland in Budget 2018. We expected to at least see some moves toward disincentivising diesel use, given the growing body of evidence on the damaging impact of its use on our climate and health. Diesel fuel exhaust […]

Immediate Release Ireland’s leading environmental coalition welcomes the Social Democrats inclusion of a levy on single-use and non-recyclable plastics in the party’s pre-Budget submission. Launched this morning, the party’s submission states that the two environmental levies would bring in €2 million in revenue, while also helping reduce the use of plastics across society. [1] The […]

Immediate Release Ireland’s leading environmental coalition welcomes the Green Party’s support of its proposal to equalise the cost of diesel and petrol in Budget 2018. Launching its alternative budget this morning, the Greens also outlined their support for the Environmental Pillar’s proposal for the inclusion of an aggregates levy. [1][2] The Pillar – a coalition of 26 […]

The Government’s latest biodiversity action plan lacks aspiration, focus and strategy, Ireland’s leading environmental coalition has said on the verge of the plan’s launch this morning. The 2017-2021 National Biodiversity Action Plan is set to be launched by Heritage Minister Heather Humphreys this morning. The Environmental Pillar – a coalition of 26 national environmental organisations […]

An All-Ireland environmental NGO coalition is in Brussels today to voice their shared concerns over the serious impact Brexit may have on crucial cross-border cooperation to protect the environment. As the fourth round of Brexit negotiations gets underway, representatives from the Environmental Pillar and Northern Ireland Environmental Link will be meeting with high-level European representatives, […]

The Environmental Pillar calls on the government to incorporate the Polluter Pays Principle, as appropriate, into all aspects of taxation and spending. This will have the effect of This will have the effect of broadening the tax base whilst enabling the moving of taxation from income to levies on consumption whilst at the same time removing […]

Immediate Release The Irish branch of the European-wide People4Soil campaign has smashed its national quota for an official EU petition calling on the European Commission to protect soils across Europe. Soil is a vibrant living substance which is vital for life on Earth, with each and every one of us depending on the four or five […]

Immediate Release The use of existing forestry grants to allow farmers to plant native woodlands along rivers and streams would dramatically reduce farm water pollution, Ireland’s leading environment coalition has said. The Environmental Pillar – a coalition of 26 national environmental organisations – wants to see excess funds from under-spent non-native forestry funding diverted to […]

Sustainable development and environmental protection must be put at the heart and centre of the Future of Europe, says Ireland’s leading environmental coalition. Following today’s State of the European Union speech by European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker on his vision for the Future of Europe, the Environmental Pillar has called for a more democratic, […]

Immediate Release With just four weeks left to reach Ireland’s target, The Happy Pear twins are calling on all food lovers to add their signature to the People4Soil petition to save our soil. Ireland needs 8,250 signatures before 12 September 2017 to pass the European Citizen’s Initiative petition which is pushing for the European Commission […]

The Citizens’ Assembly must call for a referendum to give a constitutional right to environmental protection to the people of Ireland, says the country’s leading environmental coalition. The Environmental Pillar – a coalition of 26 national environmental organisations – outlined its view in a submission for the Assembly’s upcoming session on “How the State can make […]

Immediate Release The Environmental Pillar reiterates that hedgerow cutting remains illegal during the month of August, and calls for stronger enforcement of existing wildlife laws. Ireland’s leading environmental coalition calls for existing wildlife laws on hedgerow cutting to be strictly enforced this month to avoid any further devastation to our wildlife and habitats this year. […]

Ireland’s leading environmental coalition has repeated its call for the State to increase excise rates for diesel as a progressive step towards the inevitable ban on the internal combustion engine. The Environmental Pillar – a coalition of 26 national environmental organisations – also welcomes the UK’s decision to ban the sale of all diesel and […]

Immediate Release The government should focus on its own mitigation efforts instead of offering the false hope of helping poorer countries adapt to climate change through unsustainable agricultural practices, Ireland’s leading environmental coalition has said. The comments from the Environmental Pillar – a coalition of 26 national environmental organisations – follow a speech from Minister […]

Immediate Release Ireland’s leading environmental coalition welcomes the Seanad’s calls for concrete action to ensure environmental regulation remains rigorous across the island of Ireland in a post-Brexit world. A new Seanad report – Brexit: Implications and Potential Solutions – calls for Ireland to be “considered a single bio-geographic unit” amid fears that UK and EU regulation […]

Immediate Release Leading environmental organisation outlines three key budget policies to net over €200m in revenue and limit environmentally damaging activities. Taxing environmentally damaging practices and giving the money back through investment should be a key initiative of Budget 2018, Ireland’s largest environmental organisation has told the Minister of Finance. In its pre-budget submission to […]

Today’s passing of the historic Bill to ban onshore fracking is a great victory for local campaigners and a boost for the global climate movement, Ireland’s leading environmental organisation has said. The Petroleum and Other Minerals Development (Prohibition of Onshore Hydraulic Fracturing) Bill 2016 will now move on to the President for signing after passing […]