The Republic of Ireland has said it wants every person in the country to be aware of the importance of biodiversity, as it launches its latest National Biodiversity Action Plan.
The country’s fourth such plan sets the national agenda for 2023-2030 with the aim of delivering “transformative changes” to protect nature in line with the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
The 128-page document places Ireland in the small group of regions, including China, to have released a strategy well ahead of biodiversity COP15 in Colombia in October, when all nations must submit an outline for how they intend to meet their GBF targets to the UN.
The plan aims “to ensure that every citizen, community, business, local authority, semi-state and state agency has an awareness of biodiversity and its importance, and of the implications of its loss”, it said.
“Awareness-raising needs to be supported by an inclusive process of engagement whereby everybody in Ireland, all sectors, interest groups and communities, are treated as partners that can realise the goals of this plan together.”
Ireland’s five strategic biodiversity objectives are to:
- Adopt a whole of government, whole of society approach to biodiversity
- Meet urgent conservation and restoration needs
- Secure nature’s contribution to people
- Enhance the evidence base for action on biodiversity
- Strengthen Ireland’s contribution to international biodiversity initiatives
Each objective has time-bound descriptions of the actions required to achieve it, with indicators to measure progress.
For example, the first objective has more than 30 actions and indicators linked to different targets.
These targets include the launch of a Children and Young People’s Biodiversity Forum by 2024, get 900 businesses involved in a biodiversity group by 2025, and work on “mainstreaming” the engagement of the public in biodiversity-related environmental policy implementation by 2026.
Ireland also aims to have biodiversity officers working in 31 local authorities in 2025, while developing legislation to help it meet its target of protecting 30% of the marine environment by 2030.
HEART OF GOVERNMENT
Malcolm Noonan, the minister for nature, heritage, and electoral reform, said his goal is to bring nature into the “heart of government”.
“Through the implementation of 194 actions over the next seven years, we will be working together to improve biodiversity governance and stewardship, recognise and value the relationships between nature and people, enhance the scientific evidence base to inform our decisions,” Noonan said.
Leo Varadkar, the prime minister, said his country needs to act now to turn the tide on biodiversity loss. New actions include “accelerating” its efforts to tame invasive alien species, he said.
Ireland targeted reducing the impact of invasive alien species across the country, with eight 2030-linked outcomes.
“Government will lead the way and will help those that need it. [A] just transition, ensuring the most vulnerable are protected and helped to make the changes required, is crucial to our approach,” Varadkar said.
FUNDING
Although the plan did not announce any new funding, it stressed its ambitions would need to be “matched” by more resources for staffing across public bodies.
Blended public and private finance presents “substantial opportunities” for funding. Private companies are interested in financing peatland restoration to offset high demands for water use, it said.
An emerging Irish peatland standard aims to address biodiversity credits before the end of 2025. Last week, a report said the peatlands finance industry should mature between 2030 and 2050. However, the national plan did not mention biodiversity credits.
The government has “good reasons” to generate finance for biodiversity from revenues from carbon taxes, environmental levies, and green bond sales, the plan said.
“There is also significant potential to develop new blended public-private financial instruments, such as impact bonds, supported by low interest loans from the InvestEU facility of the European Investment Bank.”
IRONCLAD TARGETS
Elaine McGoff, head of advocacy at non-profit nature protection organisation An Taisce, welcomed the plan’s accountability, cross-departmental collaboration, and legislative backing.
“But will it deliver the hugely ambitious and transformative change that’s necessary? I mean, good governance and accountability is obviously really key. But alone it isn’t the solution,” McGoff said during a Policy Forum for Ireland webinar.
“We’ve had years of biodiversity neglect and decline, and the task at hand is significant. We need far-reaching, ironclad targets. A real test for the plan would be determining how well does it incorporate the recommendations for the Citizens’ Assembly.”
Irish group the Citizens’ Assembly launched 150 recommendations on biodiversity loss last April. However, McGoff said she was not yet fully convinced the plan had taken the recommendations into account.
By Thomas Cox – t.cox@carbon-pulse.com
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