Crisis? What Crisis?

John Martin is the Head of Policy and Advocacy at RSPB NI

“The question is, are we happy to suppose that our grandchildren may never be able to see a elephant except in a picture book?”

David Attenborough

The nature and climate crisis that we are now living in will define this generation. Every crisis needs leaders and the leaders that are emerging are those in the youth movement, which has been awe-inspiring and unsettling in equal measure. Awe-inspiring because of the passion, determination and maturity with which they have brought the issues to our attention and unsettling due to the jeopardy with which we will all be in if we do not get this right. If we were to paraphrase the quote above and replace the word ‘elephant’ with ‘curlew’, we wouldn’t be far from the reality of the situation in Northern Ireland.

The UN has warned that we have only 12 years to avert a climate catastrophe and globally species are declining at a rate not previously seen. Northern Ireland is not immune to this. The 2019 State of Nature report showed that 272 local species of wildlife are at risk of extinction and sea level rise linked to climate change could see parts of our coastal towns and cities submerged if global temperatures increase by 2°C.

It is important to remember what is behind these statistics and indeed what is at risk; namely our communities, our wildlife and our life support systems themselves. Time is running out. The destruction of our environment is happening now and we need urgent action now to stop it. Despite past promises, current policies are failing to protect the environment we all share. It is clear that more of the same is not enough.

The current impasse within the Stormont Executive and environmental risks associated with Brexit are exacerbating the problem. However, within this period of ‘Executive Formation’ the Department of Environment Agriculture and Rural Affairs (DAERA) is seeking the views of the public on Northern Ireland’s first Environment Strategy. This is a welcome silver lining, and DAERA is asking the public for their big ideas.

Every crisis needs a crisis response and our big Ideas are as follows;

1. A Northern Ireland Climate Act: With countries around the world committing to take action to limit global temperature rises to 1.5°C, it is unacceptable that there is no specific climate change legislation in Northern Ireland. If we are serious about tackling climate change, we cannot rely on the other countries of the UK to cut their emissions while not setting binding targets for ourselves. The proposed outcome to simply reduce greenhouse gas emissions does not go far enough; to be meaningful, there must be a clear target to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2045.

2. Nature Recovery Networks: Nature is in trouble in Northern Ireland, with habitat loss and fragmentation among the key drivers of biodiversity loss.  The Strategy will not achieve the outcome of halting biodiversity loss without addressing these drivers.  To give nature a chance to recover, our best sites for nature should be restored to favourable condition and connected through a network of habitats outside protected sites where wildlife can thrive.

3. An independent Environmental Protection Agency: Northern Ireland is currently the only part of the UK that does not have an independent EPA and we can see the result in high levels of illegal dumping, the persecution of threatened species, and the poor condition of our protected sites.  Good policies and legislation will only be effective if they are properly enforced.

4. Public Money for Public Goods:  In order to help farmers combat climate change and restore nature in our countryside, farming subsidies should provide an incentive for farmers to farm in a way that helps protect the environment and support the objectives of the Strategy

RSPB NI has launched an e-action and we need you to take part. We believe that if the Strategy includes the measures we propose, then we will give nature a fighting chance to recover. We hope that as many people as possible will support us in demanding that DAERA includes these policies in the Strategy. Nature and our world are facing challenging times.

If you want to do something about it, add your voice for nature by following this link www.bit.ly/RestoreNatureNI

Accompanying Image Credit Neal Warnock