The All-island Environment

The island of Ireland is a single biogeographic unit with shared landscapes, water sources, flora and fauna. We are in the midst of a climate and biodiversity crisis on the island and both jurisdictions face similar challenges in addressing these crises.

Protecting this common environment is dependent on coherent policy-making, high standards and regulations and enforcement on both sides of the border. Increasing cross border cooperation and policy-making provides a real opportunity to improve the environment on an all-island basis.

The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Brexit) threatens this cooperation and shared standards and thus presents a significant risk to the all-island environmental integrity of the island of Ireland.

How has Brexit impacted all-island environmental governance?

There are many questions about all-island environmental governance and the complexity around the new arrangements in the post-Brexit era:

Why is cooperation on the environment on the island of Ireland so important?

Cooperation on the environment is vital for a number of reasons:

• Shared ecosystems and resources: The island of Ireland, including its surrounding seas, is considered a single biogeographic unit, meaning it has a common set of natural resources, landscapes, and ecological processes.

• Responding to shared environmental challenges: The island is facing a climate and biodiversity crisis, with both Ireland and Northern Ireland facing similar challenges in addressing these issues.

• The impact of brexit: The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union has the potential to disrupt cross-border cooperation and shared standards, posing a significant risk to the all-island environmental integrity, to the economic level playing field on the island and to existing cooperation on the environment.

• Benefits of cooperation: Cooperation can lead to more coherent and cost-effective environmental managment leading to better environmental outcomes.

What does the 1998 Agreement say about environmental cooperation on the island of Ireland?

The importance of all-island/cross-border cooperation on the environment was recognised in the 1998 Agreement. The 1998 Agreement has been praised for the nuanced understanding of the link between environment, peace and security evident in its focus on environmental issues. Environment is one of the 12 nominated areas for North South cooperation under Strand 2 of the Agreement, along 8 with areas that area environmental in nature such as watercourses, aquaculture, agriculture, urban and rural development and tourism. Environmental issues are within the remit of the North South Ministerial Council in Strand 2 and

What are the challenges to all-island cooperation on the environment?

Cooperation on environmental issues was envisaged in the 1998 Agreement but has remained challenging in the years since 1998, even before Brexit. There are a number of reasons for this:

• The two jurisdictions which exist on the island of Ireland have developed (with some exceptions) almost completely segregated environmental governance structures, legal and policy frameworks, and implementation processes.

• Significant divergence which existed even before Brexit has been compounded by problematic experiences of environmental governance within each jurisdiction.

• Brexit has also removed the important scrutiny and enforcement role of EU institutions in respect to environmental outcomes from one part of the island. It has also removed the unifying and over-arching ‘direction of travel’ on environmental and social concerns brought by membership of the EU

• The unstable nature of the devolved government in NI has meant that for long periods Northern Ireland has been without a government

• Processes for input both at policy level and in the context of public participation in environmental decision making are generally separate

• There is a lack of transparency about how civil society can engage in formal processes and discussions around the environment at policy level

• Missing, inaccurate or incomplete data on either side of the border means that it is difficult to assess priority areas for cooperation or compare approaches to identify best practice.

• There have also been concerns raised about the extent to which proper transboundary consultation on important environmental decisions has occurred.

• Funding streams and opportunities also differ,

• Lack of capacity means that many NGOs consider crossborder/all-island cooperation as a ‘nice to have’ rather than a priority

Did North-South cooperation existed before Brexit, and how much of this cooperation relied on EU membership?

Despite challenges, formal cooperation between the governments of Ireland and Northern Ireland existed across many policy areas pre-Brexit, as demonstrated by the ‘North-South Mapping Exercise’ carried out jointly by the UK Government and European Commission (with inputs from the Irish Government) during UK-EU withdrawal negotiations in 2017. Through the Mapping Exercise, 142 areas of N/S cooperation were identified; of which 54 were found to be ‘directly underpinned by or linked’ to EU membership, 42 ‘partially underpinned or linked’ and 46 ‘not underpinned or linked’. Of the 142 identified, 55 related to environmental policy and governance and of these, 21 were identified as directly underpinned, 19 as partially underpinned, and 15 as not underpinned by EU law and policy.

What is the Windsor Framework and how does it relate to the Northern Ireland/Ireland Protocol?

The Windsor Framework is the title given to a package of measures agreed between the UK and the EU in February 2023 regarding the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland. Among the changes introduced at this time was an agreement to rename what had been known as the Protocol on Ireland / Northern Ireland to ‘the Windsor Framework’. This means that the Windsor Framework now refers to the arrangements for Northern Ireland that were agreed in the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement which are designed to maintain necessary conditions for North-South cooperation, avoid a hard border and protect the 1998 Agreement in all its dimensions, including as they have subsequently been amended after the February 2023 agreement.

Does the Windsor Framework ensure that cooperation on shared environmental challenges can continue post-Brexit?

The relevant impact of the Windsor Framework, and Brexit more generally, falls into three categories.

1. The Windsor Framework requires a small portion of EU environmental rules to continue to apply to Northern Ireland, continued cooperation in these areas is therefore unlikely to be directly impacted.

2. The Windsor Framework is to be ‘implemented and applied’ in such a way as to enable wider (pre-existing) North-South environmental cooperation to continue; this commitment is however difficult to uphold because many EU rules that previously facilitated North-South environmental cooperation no longer apply in Northern Ireland as EU law.

3. The indirect and more widespread effects of Brexit which enable and result in increased divergence between environmental laws and practices in the UK and in the EU are likely to make continued environmental cooperation on the island of Ireland more challenging.

Does EU law still apply in Northern Ireland?

The Windsor Framework includes a list of over 300 pieces of EU legislation which continue to apply in Northern Ireland, including legislation on goods, animal and plant health rules, rules on agricultural production, VAT and excise on goods, state aid rules, and legislation related to electricity markets. The EU’s Customs Code also applies to goods entering Northern Ireland. In the environmental context, only a limted amount of EU environmental law continues to apply in Northern Ireland. This includes some EU rules on waste, energy efficiency, pesticides, energy markets as well as sanitary and phytosanitary rules concerning animal and plant health.

What happens in Northern Ireland when EU environmental law changes?

The concept of ‘dynamic alignment’ means that when EU laws covered by the Windsor Framework are amended or replaced, these changes automatically apply in Northern Ireland. When the EU adopts a new EU law which they deem to be in the scope of the Windsor Framework (and therefore should be added to the list of law applying in Northern Ireland), this must be discussed in a body established in the post-brexit negotiations called the EU-UK Joint Committee. The EU and UK both have to agree before a new EU law can apply in Northern Ireland.

Is there a requirement for cross-border/transboundary consultation on environmental matters?

Yes. This right is supported by several different intersecting EU and domestic provisions that arise both under and independent of the EU law framework. EU and international law have separate provisions/frameworks for the right to participate in plans, programs and policy making at the ‘strategic’ or higher level of decision making, and the right to participate in project permitting decisions or environmental emissions/pollution licencing decisions. The combination of these instruments means that there exists a comprehensive framework supporting the right to public participation in environmental decision making on a transboundary/cross-border basis. This means that people in Ireland have a right to have a say in decisions made by public authorities in Northern Ireland that have a significant impact on the environment, and people in Northern Ireland have reciprocal rights in relation to decision making in Ireland.

Has regulatory divergence occurred since Brexit?

Yes. Since the UK left the EU legislative changes in environmental law have resulted in divergence between the EU, including Ireland, and the UK, including Northern Ireland. While examples include divergence due to UK-initiated developments, the most significant changes so far have been due to EU-initiated changes, primarily the adoption of new EU environmental laws. While this means there are now areas of regulatory divergence in environmental laws that apply in the UK and the EU respectively, because most new EU laws have lengthy implementation timelines many of the changes associated with this divergence have not yet taken effect on the ground.

What are the needs of environmental actors in the context of ensuring all-island and cross-border cooperation?

Key needs for environmental actors include:

• Guidance and coordination on cross-border and all-island matters;

• Access to information (including data sharing), policy-making and justice in both jurisdictions;

• Maintenance of alignment where possible (although not if this maintains poor environmental structures or practices);

• Clear information about existing divergence and especially divergence that is newly introduced;

• Clear information about international environmental commitments by both Ireland and NI and how these have changed;

• Examples of positive engagements, on this island and elsewhere to inspire new initiatives/innovation;

• Information about key actors (and avenues of engagement) in both jurisdictions or beyond;

• Resources dedicated to cross-border and all-island matters (which do not deplete existing resources and include sustained funding for core and existing staff).

What steps could be taken to protect and enhance all-island cooperation on the environment?

Practical steps that could be taken to ensure sustained and meaningful all-island cooperation on the environment can be grouped into seven key areas:

• Reaffirming political commitment to cooperation;

• Enhancing civil society structures and strategies;

• Monitoring the impact of Brexit;

• Enhancing government accountability;

• Supporting enduring and productive civil society relationships;

• Ensuring citizens are aware of and can operationalise their environmental rights; and

• Enhancing knowledge about environmental actors, activities and opportunities for collaboration

A more in-depth review of the complex legal and political developments which have occurred post Brexit which are relevant to all-island/cross-broder cooperation on the environment on the island of Ireland can be accessed here:

Demystifying post-Brexit environmental cooperation on the island of Ireland

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Linking the Irish Environment

The Irish Environmental Network (IEN) and Northern Ireland Environment Link (NIEL) have been working together for a number of years to understand and highlight these risks and to identify policy and practical solutions to shared environmental challenges. As part of this work we commissioned a report ‘Linking the Irish Environment’ to examine how best to enable the environment sector across the island to cooperate and engage on an all-island and cross-border basis to deal with these shared challenges, risks, and opportunities. The research team was as follows: Dr. Ciara Brennan (Environmental Justice Network Ireland), Dr. Finbarr Brereton (UCD), Dr. Mary Dobbs (MU), Dr. Viviane Gravey (QUB), Hannah Gould (UCD), Alison Hough BL (TUS) and Dr. Lisa Whitten (QUB).

This report builds on the 2019 report written by Alison Hough, ‘Brexit, the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement and the Environment: Issues arising and possible solutions’ and commission by IEN and NIEL. It examines the state of play regarding the current environmental regulatory and governance arrangements on the island, including the Protocol, the TCA, Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, international agreements and the level and experience of practical cooperation on the environment across the island. It also includes a series of recommendations and advocacy priorities to advance citizens’ and NGO engagement in all-island environmental issues.

Further Developments

Since the launch of the report in June 2023, a number of significant developments have taken place at a political and legislative level which are relevant for north/south cooperation on the environment. These include the restoration of Stormont and a major legislative development at UK level, the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023. This update provides a high level overview of the relevant developments and their potential impact on north/south cooperation.

The 2023 Linking the Irish Environment (LIE) Report explored all-island and cross-border cooperation on shared environmental challenges on the island of Ireland. One of the recommendations of the LIE report was to establish an all-island civil society forum on the environment, which was organised by the Northern Ireland Environment Link (NIEL) and Irish Environmental Network (IEN) in 2024. One of the key observations which emerged from this forum was that many questions remained about all-island environmental governance and the complexity around the new arrangements in the post-Brexit era. In addition, it has become clear that arrangements are continuing to evolve as the Windsor Framework plays out in practice. The aim of this short resource is to demystify the complex legal and political developments which have occurred post Brexit which are relevant to all-island/cross-border cooperation on the environment on the island of Ireland.

All-Island Civil Forum on the Environment

Northern Ireland Environment Link (NIEL) and the Irish Environmental Network received funding from the Government of Ireland Shared Island Civic Society Fund to develop and deliver a series of five facilitated thematic dialogues and a final in-person networking forum between January and September 2024.

The main purpose of the project was to promote and deepen cooperation and dialogue between Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland eNGOs and environmental civil society groups so that the sector is equipped to fully engage with, and respond to, the new environmental regulatory and governance context post-Brexit.

Participants discussed shared challenges and possible solutions and policy responses that they believed were appropriate for introducing/implementing/exploring on an all-island basis or on both sides of the border.

The first dialogue took place online using Zoom on Wednesday 14 February and set the context for the rest of the series and included an expert overview of the environmental regulatory context post-Brexit, a discussion on why deeper dialogue and cooperation between environmental organisations in Ireland and Northern Ireland was necessary and discussed the thematic areas might be prioritised in the remaining dialogues.

Biodiversity, with an emphasis on terrestrial, was the theme of the second session on Friday 12 April. This was followed by the third dialogue on Friday 17 May which focused on the Marine. The theme of the fourth dialogue on Thursday 27th June was Freshwater. The fifth dialogue took place on Friday 13^th September and focused on Climate Change: policies, action and shaping public opinion

Following the five online dialogues, the IEN and NI Environment Link hosted an in-person all-island dialogue and networking event in the Imperial Hotel Dundalk on Friday 11 October.

Delegates discussed the findings of the online dialogues and our shared environmental challenges and possible solutions, and also revisited the complex issue of post-Brexit environmental governance. It also discussed how groups north and south can work together more effectively on an all-island basis.

Through the five online dialogues and in-person networking event, the All-Island Forum brought together over 250 participants from a wide range of environmental groups and campaigns across the island, creating space to collaborate, share ideas, and inspire change.

How has Brexit impacted all-island environmental governance?

Linking the Irish Environment

All-Island Civil Forum on the Environment

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