Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 January 2024
258. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he supports holding a referendum on the rights of nature in the lifetime of this Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3393/24]
View answerIreland's 4th National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP) 2023-2027 is published today and sets out Ireland’s vision for biodiversity, that by 2050 “biodiversity in Ireland is valued, conserved, restored and sustainably used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people”. The Plan strives for a “whole of government, whole of society” approach to the governance and conservation of biodiversity. The aim of the Plan is 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, while also understanding how they can act to address the biodiversity emergency as part of a renewed national effort to “act for nature”.
Following the declaration by the Dáil of a Biodiversity Emergency in 2019, and in recognition of the vital role that biodiversity plays in the continued health of our society, economy, species and planet, the Programme for Government included a commitment to hold a Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss. The Assembly presented it's report in April 2023 and agreed 159 recommendations, including the recommendation that nature be provided protection within the Constitution. Central to the report’s recommendations is the need for the State to take prompt, decisive, and urgent action to address biodiversity loss and restoration and to provide leadership in protecting Ireland’s biodiversity for future generations.
Ireland's 4th National Biodiversity Action Plan has been the subject of significant effort over the last two years, through engagement with stakeholders and with the support, advice and input of an interdepartmental Biodiversity Working Group and a Biodiversity Forum. The Plan provides for a mechanism by which the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly will be considered by Government, including an action for the National Parks and Wildlife Service to explore the ways in which the rights of nature could be formally recognised. The Plan takes account of many other actions that will address the recommendations arising from the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, including an increase of resources, support for local action and the publication of a National Restoration Plan.
