Dr. Aoife Ní Lochlainn:

We have been working with our colleagues in Northern Ireland on what are shared problems. Obviously, Ireland is a single biogeographic unit. We have the same issues and challenges around climate change and biodiversity on both sides of the Border. In 2019, we co-operated to produce a report on identifying the main risks to environmental integrity on the island of Ireland posed by the withdrawal of the UK from the EU. Obviously, the main risks identified were regulatory divergence. Now since the finalisation of the trade and co-operation agreement between the EU and the UK and the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland some of these risks have been partially mitigated. However, we are in the very early days of post-agreement to address our shared environmental issues such as climate and biodiversity. We need to co-operate cross-Border but for that co-operation to be effective and practical we need shared policies, standards, aims and objectives. It is not clear how strong the protection against divergence on environmental standards in the trade and co-operation agreement will be into the future and the strength of protection afforded by non-regression of standards and rebalancing mechanisms on future divergence has been criticised and critiqued by quite a number of UK environmental and social policy advocacy organisations.

What we see with the trade and co-operation agreement and the protocol is the extent to which what is agreed is focused on trade. Obviously, environmental impacts go beyond trade. Therefore, what are the solutions? Our report in 2019 highlighted the potential for the Good Friday bodies, in particular the North-South Ministerial Council, to work on advancing environmental shared policy and practical co-operation and also to provide a forum for discussion on policy and regulation. However, even at the best of times it has to be said that these Good Friday bodies are quite impenetrable to most of civil society. They are essentially engaged in highly diplomatic processes and NGOs such as ourselves have very few routes for engagement on the matters under discussion. Dr. Soares has spoken about the need for engagement with civic society on both sides of the Border to ensure co-operation can not only be maintained but also thrive. Currently, on the environment, it is very hard to see where the avenues for engagement with NGOs are, particularly, as Ms Farrell mentioned, those NGOs south of the Border. We need structures for engagement. The question on the all-island consultative forum is a very good example. A consultation forum which would provide an opportunity for citizens and NGOs to discuss environmental co-operation across the island is the sort of undertaking we need in order to see any real all-island change or progress on the environment.

I thank the committee. Apologies again for my camera not working.