The island of Ireland is one single biogeographic unit. Pollution and environmental damage caused on one side of the border will impact the environment on the other side of the border. This means that breaches of environmental rights in Northern Ireland will have important transboundary implications for the human right to a healthy environment for citizens living across the whole island of Ireland – and vice versa. It also means that citizens trying to assert their procedural rights to environmental justice will be impacted by procedural deficits in both jurisdictions. This submission has been prepared by Environmental Justice Network Ireland and Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland in response to the OHCHR call for input for the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to a healthy environment ahead of an official visit to Ireland in February 2026. It sets out the political and legal underpinnings of environmental rights that transcend the border on the island of Ireland. It also considers urgent transboundary issues which have implications for environmental rights and the protection of environmental defenders. Finally, we make a series of recommendations for how some of these issues could be overcome. There is a significant body of research which has developed in this area, and this is referenced throughout the document with signposting to additional detail or resources where relevant.
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