Campaigners call for budget surplus to be used to reach nature and climate targets

The Environmental Pillar, the Sustainable Water Network (SWAN), Stop Climate Chaos, and Extinction Rebellion Ireland at a rally last month calling on all political leaders in Ireland to ensure that Ireland supports the Nature Restoration Law. File picture: Mark Stedman

A climate and nature restoration fund must be established from the expected surplus billions in State coffers in the coming years, environmental bodies have said.

As Europe's proposed Nature Restoration Law hangs in the balance amid political acrimony in Brussels, Ireland’s Environmental Pillar, made up of a range of groups, said the Government needs to "drastically increase spending on nature and secure climate funding for the coming decades".

The European Commission's mooted nature restoration proposal, which would be the biggest overhaul of nature laws in Europe for three decades, has a crucial vote coming in the Environment Committee in the European Parliament on Thursday.

It needs to pass committee stage before MEPs can vote on it next month, a process that political insiders say is still up in the air.

More than 80% of protected habitats across the EU are in a bad state, according to the European Environment Agency, with a combined area about half the size of Spain in need of restoration.

CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB

The commission's proposal to restore at least 20% of the EU’s damaged land and sea areas by 2030, and all ecosystems by 2050, has been met with stiff resistance from mostly centre-right politicians across Europe, but the likes of Sinn Féin MEPs have also been slow to get on board.

Sceptics, including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and other Fine Gael MEPs, claim it would disproportionately affect farming and food production but this argument has been fiercely decried by environmental groups, as well as Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue and Environment Minister Eamon Ryan, who have hit out at "scaremongering" around it.

The Environmental Pillar told the National Economic Dialogue taking place in Dublin that the need to protect Ireland's biodiversity and climate have grown starker.

The Environmental Pillar told the National Economic Dialogue taking place in Dublin that the need to protect Ireland's biodiversity and climate have grown starker. File picture: Stephen Collins/Collins

Over a quarter of Ireland’s bird species are in danger of extinction and over 70% of peatlands are in bad status, it warned, adding that recent projections by the EPA show Ireland will breach the emissions ceilings in 2025 and 2030 set by the Oireachtas.

A climate and a nature restoration fund "will restore nature, stimulate rural and coastal economies, and provide much-needed public goods such as warmer homes, renewable energy infrastructure, and better public transport," the Environmental Pillar said.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

Friends of the Earth chief executive Oisín Coghlan said: “It is almost two years since we passed the landmark climate act, yet Ireland’s emissions projections show that we will more than likely fall at the first hurdle and fail to meet our 2025 and 2030 targets. 

"Government should seize the opportunity provided by the projected budget surpluses over the next few years to make significant investments in nature and climate action."

Birdwatch Ireland head of advocacy Oonagh Duggan said reversing biodiversity loss will require serious investment in both public and privately-owned land, but stressed that farmers "need to be supported in providing those ecosystem services and in protecting nature".