News

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 […]

Immediate Release Ireland was among nine countries named and shamed at the Fossil Fuel Subsidy Awards ceremony in Brussels today for the Government’s commitment to subsidise peat burning for electricity generation. Ireland was crowned number one for giving Sneaky Special Treatment to peat-burning at today’s medal ceremony, hosted by Climate Action Network – a coalition […]

Immediate Release The Environmental Pillar will hold a seminar with MEP Liadh Ni Riada this Friday, 28 April 2017 to highlight Irish people’s rights to access information as EU citizens. The interactive seminar – Right to Know, Right to Act: Your rights as a European Citizen – will take place at the Savoy Hotel, Henry Street, Co […]

Immediate Release The Environmental Pillar will hold a seminar with MEP Liadh Ni Riada this Friday, 28 April 2017 to highlight Irish people’s rights to access information as EU citizens. The interactive seminar – Right to Know, Right to Act: Your rights as a European Citizen – will take place at the Imperial Hotel in […]

The Government’s long overdue draft National Mitigation Plan is almost wholly inadequate to meet the climate challenges ahead, according to Ireland’s leading environmental organisations. The Environmental Pillar, together with Stop Climate Chaos, has outlined its findings on the draft Plan in a submission sent as part of a public consultation set to close today. The […]

500 organisations sent an open letter to the President of the European Commission (EC) Jean-Claude Juncker today urging him to enact legislation to protect our soils from further degradation. The letter was sent to coincide with this Saturday’s celebration of Earth Day, an international day of action to highlight the work of environmental movements worldwide. […]

Environmental organisations welcome the recommendation of the Oireachtas’ environmental Committee to ban fracking in the Republic of Ireland. The Environmental Pillar welcomes the decision to support a prohibition on fracking in a report launched by the Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment today. The Environmental Pillar – a coalition of 26 Irish environmental […]

Environmental organisations are deeply concerned at the absence of a set charge for excessive water use in the pending report on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services. The Environmental Pillar also believes that the Oireachtas Committee’s proposal for penalties for excessive water use will do next to nothing to curb wastage. The committee has […]

Whilst there is much that is welcome in the report, it includes one obvious and serious contradiction. It states that Excessive or wasteful use of water should be paid for directly by the user at tariffs determined by CER. It then goes on to make no real proposal on how to decide when there is […]

As part of the annual European Semester process, the European Commission published its Country Reports on each EU Member State, including Ireland, in February 2017. The Country Reports present the Commission’s analysis of the economic, social and environmental policies of each country, as well as national progress in delivering on both the five agreed Europe […]

The Environmental Pillar supports the Bill – The Prohibition of Extraction and Exploration of Onshore Petroleum 2016, and recommends that the Committee pass this Bill to the next stage of the Dáil without delay. As a network we are motivated by the mounting global and national peer reviewed evidence detailing the significant risks and negative […]

A coalition of Irish farmers, environmentalists, trade unionists, global justice groups and small business organisations have called on MEPs to oppose the EU Canada trade deal known as CETA. [1]   The groups co-signed a letter to members of a European Parliament committee [2] calling for rejection of the deal earlier this week.   The trade deal […]

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PRESS RELEASE Over 450 public interest groups from across Europe and Canada today urged legislators to vote against the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). The Environmental Pillar, a coalition of 28 Irish environmental NGOs, also joined the call for politicians to reject this trade deal. We have joined forces to defend people and planet […]

PRESS RELEASE Today a resolution to seek an opinion from the European Court of Justice on the compatibility of CETA with EU Treaties [1] was rejected by the European Parliament. The push to fast-track the controversial CETA trade deal continues with both the EU Trade Committee and the Conference of the Presidents over the last […]

Budget 2017 may have brought measures to move Ireland’s transport and energy sectors towards a low carbon future but action across all areas of policy is needed to put the country on a sustainable path. The Environmental Pillar, an advocacy coalition of 28 national environmental charities, are calling Budget 2017 a missed opportunity to prepare […]

Environmental groups are calling on the government to tax environmentally damaging practices to change behaviour and raise government revenue. Three simple measures, a levy on single-use items, a levy on the aggregates, and a levelling of the excise duty on petrol and diesel, would net the government in the region of €415m every year.* And […]

For immediate release The existing prohibition on cutting ANY hedgerows between March 1st and August 31st is an offence under the Wildlife acts, unless exempted The Environmental Pillar are reiterating that the cutting of hedgerows remains illegal during the month of August, and are calling for existing wildlife laws to be upheld and enforced. Almost 20,000 people have signed a […]

More regular flooding, aggressive storms and drought will be outcome of watering down our climate targets.    New European Climate Change targets have been revealed today and they have made it easier for Ireland because of how emissions and carbon is accounted for. The Environmental Pillar, a coalition of 28 Irish national environmental NGOs, warns […]

Irish cattle less climate-efficient than European average and emissions per head up from 1990 The Environmental Pillar and Stop Climate Chaos and have published a new report titled “Not So Green: Debunking the Myths around Irish Agriculture”. Drawing heavily on scientific evidence, the report challenges government and industry claims and shows that Ireland’s current agriculture and […]

The Environmental Pillar welcomed the proposals by officials in the Department of the Environment to Minister Coveney, to take measures to tackle the twin issues of litter and waste while also providing some extra revenue for the Environment Fund.
“By placing a cost on single use items we can encourage consumers and vendors to think about what will happen to the item when they are finished using it.” “We need to change the way that people think about ‘disposable’ packaging.” said Mindy O’Brien of VOICE, speaking on behalf of the Environmental Pillar.

Representatives of the Environmental Pillar will speak at the National Economic Dialogue about their vision for a resilient circular economy, based on Sustainable Development Goals – which can bring a strong buoyant economy with fairness and benefits for all. “We have to build our economy on solid foundations. This means reducing and ultimately eliminating the […]

Speaking at the opening session of the National Economic Dialogue, Cillian Lohan of the Environmental Pillar spoke about reducing and ultimately eliminating the concept of waste from all sectors. He said: “Almost all materials can be reused or remanufactured, which not only is beneficial for our environment but also creates jobs and wealth amongst communities […]

The Environmental Pillar welcomes the decision to include environment in the title of Minister Denis Naughton’s Department.   However the decision to leave National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) in another department could lead to the conservation of wildlife and habitats falling off the political agenda.   The title of the new department will now […]