Northern Ireland

This document sets out EJNI’s response to Northern Ireland’s first draft Climate Action Plan. As an all-island organisation with significant experience assessing climate action plans in Ireland and in broader climate governance and environmental democracy issues on the island of Ireland and the EU, we have, where possible, considered initiatives from Ireland and elsewhere in our response. We have also...

EJNI and Feminist Communities for Climate Justice response to the NI Fuel Poverty Consultation

EJNI research has identified persistent concerns about the scale and handling of illegal dumping in Northern Ireland and on the island of Ireland. Stakeholders from across a range of backgrounds agree that a public inquiry is the most appropriate mechanism through which to establish the nature and extent of failures within the current system and identify ways of preventing recurrence...

This call for evidence seeks views on the UK’s compliance with the Aarhus Convention’s access-to-justice provisions (Article 9), focusing on three issues raised by the UN Aarhus Compliance Committee about Northern Ireland’s justice system: Costs protection – ensuring justice is not prohibitively expensive, covering the effectiveness of current regulations, appeals and cost caps, shared caps, cross-undertakings in damages, and costs...

In recent years Just Transition has been the subject of significant research and analysis and is increasingly enshrined in legal obligations at national and supranational level. It has been widely acknowledged that just transition policies and initiatives can deliver useful measures and on the ground action to address the social risks of industrial decarbonisation and make decarbonisation socially fair and...

Lough Neagh, the largest freshwater lake in Britain or Ireland, is vital to local communities but faces long-standing management issues. These include environmental damage from unregulated sand extraction, habitat loss, declining fish and bird populations, and serious water pollution. Recent concerns have sparked calls for public ownership. This briefing explains the current ownership situation, why it's problematic, and suggests alternative...

This report is part of an Environmental Justice Network Ireland (EJNI) project exploring strategic litigation on the island of Ireland, funded by the European Climate Foundation. The report has been informed by deskbased research and an initial scoping exercise which involved a small, focused (Chatham House Rules1) workshop for NGOs and an event bringing together the key players in strategic...

In June 2024, the first all-island conference on costs and funding was held in Queens University Belfast. The conference, 'Demystifying the cost of environmental justice on the island of Ireland', was organised by Environmental Justice Network Ireland (EJNI), the Climate Bar Association, Public Interest Litigation Support NI (PILS), Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland and Queen’s University Belfast Centre for...

‘Rights of nature’ (RoN) is an emerging and evolving paradigm that recognises the intrinsic rights of ecosystems and species to evolve, flourish, and regenerate. The possibility of adopting a rights of nature approach on the island of Ireland has been the subject of increasing attention, with academics, NGOs and grassroots communities exploring how a concept that has been adopted in...

Peaceful protest has been a key tool in many of the most significant social movements for equality and against oppression, and the right to protest is a fundamental part of our democracy. This guide tells you about: Your right to protest under Northern Ireland (NI) law1 ; What you are allowed to do at a protest; and The limitations there...