Ireland has 'stacks of homework to do' in order to meet environment requirements 

Pádraic Fogarty of the Irish Wildlife Trust welcomed the deal, but said there was much to be done before we could be optimistic.

A landmark deal to halt the destruction of Earth’s ecosystems leaves Ireland with “a stack of homework to do” to meet its obligations, wildlife experts have warned.

The once-in-a-decade deal at the Cop15 nature summit in Canada commits governments to conserve nearly a third of Earth for nature by 2030, and emphasises the importance of protecting wetlands, rainforests, grasslands, and coral reefs.

It requires countries to reform the $500bn of environmentally damaging subsidies available internationally, and restore 30% of the planet’s degraded terrestrial, inland water, coastal, and marine ecosystems.

Nearly 200 countries — but not the US or the Vatican — signed the agreement to put humanity on a path to living in harmony with nature.

Pádraic Fogarty of the Irish Wildlife Trust welcomed the deal, but said there was much to be done before we could be optimistic. He said:

It’s not international agreements that are going to turn this around, it’s actually changing our behaviour. And we’re not seeing signs of that happening in Ireland.

“The language in the deal can be fuzzy or vague which can be worrying, because we know there are plenty of actors out there who don’t want to implement it, so that’s obviously a concern.

“Ireland is a laggard in this area. Compared to other countries, Ireland is way, way behind. So we already have quite a stack of homework to do to meet EU obligations. I think the deal will increase pressure to do many of the things we’ve already said we’d do.” 

BirdWatch Ireland head of policy and advocacy, Oonagh Duggan, said the commitments to halt the extinction of threatened species are needed, but that existing Irish policies have already driven some birds “to the brink of extinction”.

In Ireland, 63% of Ireland’s wild bird species are Red or Amber Listed Birds of Conservation Concern, meaning they’re in trouble. Yet year after year, Irish agriculture, forestry and afforestation, and fisheries policies focus on driving production with inadequate safeguards.

She called on the Government to refocus its attention on biodiversity restoration and enact a new “ambitious biodiversity action plan on foot of Cop15”.