All-Island Strategic Legal Exchange
Using the transformative power of the law to address the root causes of environmental and social injustice on the island of Ireland.
Project Aims
The AISLE project is designed to build cooperation between legal professionals working on both sides of the border in Ireland to address the root causes of environmental injustice on the island.
Through workshops, conferences and collaborative publications, the AISLE project brings together key partners to exchange news and to continue exploring opportunities to work together.
Knowledge development
Filling knowledge gaps about the legal systems on both sides of the border and in the transboundary context.
Strategic thinking
Providing a space to discuss how to use the law strategically to address the root causes of environmental injustice.
Recommendations for reform
Identifying aspects of legal procedure that require reform to enhance access to environmental justice.
Demystifying the cost of environmental justice on the island of Ireland
Strategic climate litigation on the island of Ireland
Recording: Demystifying the cost of environmental justice on the island of Ireland
In June 2024 EJNI co-hosted a significant conference ‘Demystifying the Cost of Environmental Justice on the island of Ireland’ at Queens University Belfast. The conference explored the ‘cost’ of environmental justice on the island of Ireland from two angles (1) What are the financial costs for citizens and NGOs who pursue environmental justice through the legal systems and how can we develop our understanding of the rules around costs in both jurisdictions? (2) What sources of funding and other supports are available to citizens and NGOs in both jurisdictions, and are new initiatives required?
Whilst we cannot expect that our courts will be able to ensure that the triple planetary crisis we face is averted, we should not underestimate the effectiveness of the law and what can be achieved when it is used as a tool to secure environmental justice.
Following the reporting of the Citizens Assembly on Biodiversity, and its forthright criticism of environmental law enforcement in Ireland, and persistent criticism stretching back for decades of
the performance of environmental enforcement bodies in Northern Ireland, bodies looking at
structural reforms might consider how the costs regimes on both sides of the border can function
to make it easier for private parties to play their part in enforcing environmental law.
