Nature restoration to benefit from new fund of more than €3bn

Ireland will have upcoming biodiversity obligations from the EU after the European Commission's nature restoration law was passed in the summer.

A new fund of more than €3bn earmarked for nature restoration in Ireland has been hailed as a "landmark moment" and a "huge opportunity" by environmental groups.

Part of a new overall €14bn infrastructure, climate, and nature fund, the €3.15bn for nature alone is one of the first in the world and will come from what the Government calls "windfall" corporation tax receipts.

Capital projects will be planned in areas where it is clear climate targets are not being reached, Finance Minister Michael McGrath said.

Specific projects to receive money from the €3.15bn have not been announced but Environment Minister Eamon Ryan said that nature will be the big winner from the overall €14bn package.

Ireland will have upcoming biodiversity obligations from the EU after the European Commission's nature restoration law was passed in the summer, he said.

The infrastructure, climate, and nature fund took months to agree, he added.

"We knew we needed this additional €3.15bn up to 2030 to meet our climate action plans and also to deliver on our nature restoration plan which we are going to have to do, subject to that being agreed with the European Parliament, Council, and Commission later this year. It was a scientifically-based assessment - what are we going to need, what are some of the gaps we are going to have," he said.

Chief executive of Friends of the Earth, Oisín Coghlan, described the new €3.15bn fund as a “landmark development” and a “substantial downpayment on a fair and fast transition to a zero pollution future”.

"It can help underpin climate action and nature restoration for years to come. It means that whoever is in Government after the next election will have funds to invest in getting off fossil fuels and reducing pollution, no matter what happens to tax receipts," he said.

The Fair Seas environmental coalition, which has estimated €55m will be needed to adequately protect marine areas until 2030, called for part of the fund to be used urgently.

The group, which is made up of groups such as the Irish Wildlife Trust, BirdWatch Ireland, Sustainable Water Network, Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, Coomhola Salmon Trust, Irish Environmental Network, and Coastwatch, said ringfencing 2% of the €3.15bn would enable the Government to deliver on promised marine protected area commitments.

Fair Seas campaign manager Aoife O'Mahony said it "offers a huge opportunity to deliver for nature and to protect the vital resource that is the ocean".

"This fund must be used to enact and implement strong and effective Marine Protected Area (MPA) legislation immediately. The MPA bill 2023 was promised in June 2023 and we are still waiting."