Environmental Pillar Press Releases

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 inches of topsoil around the …

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 a native woodland farm pollution …

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, just and sustainable EU. [1] …

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. The Environmental Pillar – a …

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 of State for Agriculture and …

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 in this area “may fall …

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 Minister Paschal Donohoe, the Environmental …

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 through the Seanad this afternoon. …