Linking the Irish Environment: Interim Report

The aim of this report is to examine how to enable the environment sector across the island of Ireland to cooperate and engage on an all-island and cross-border basis to deal with shared environmental challenges, risks and opportunities. The report has been commissioned by the Northern Ireland Environment Link (NIEL) and the Irish Environment Network (IEN) – which are the two membership organisations for the environmental charity sectors in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. NIEL has more than 65 organisational members and IEN has 34. The report has been commissioned as part of the first stage in the development of a long-term programme for the delivery of greater north/south environmental NGO cooperation and includes recommendations to help shape the way forward. The research undertaken in preparation of this report builds on previous joint work between NIEL and IEN, including the seminal report authored by Alison Hough, ‘Brexit, the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement and the Environment: Issues arising and possible solutions’ (Hough, 2019). This new research project also includes consideration of best practice on cross-border and EU/Non-EU linkages in light of recent political developments.