Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 17 October 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Citizens Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed)

Dr. Peter Doran:

I will, briefly. It is about getting to the point where these questions can be put in a referendum. I agree that we should be thinking about two separate questions. One of the key conceptual considerations for an expert committee would be to really tease out the relationship between these two sets of rights. They are appearing more and more alongside one another in international instruments and commentaries about the need to complement, reinforce and address the blindspots of human rights by having the rights of nature alongside them. They are of different paradigms but nevertheless in our context, if we were to offer two questions we would have to explain that relationship and what we mean by that mutually-reinforcing relationship between the two sets of rights. That will be an intriguing part of the conversation, certainly for academics but for citizens as well.