Clean air, nature preservation and cross-party support in Northern Ireland
Austin Orr, our Policy and Public Affairs Officer for Northern Ireland, writes about our successful collaboration with RSPB NI and Delores Kelly MLA on clean air and nature preservation.
Northern Ireland has a problem with dirty air. Air pollution causes 800 deaths a year and negatively affects the lives of thousands. It can be hard for many here to fathom our dirty air problem since Northern Ireland is a beautiful place with many long coast lines, rolling hills and the UK’s largest body of fresh water, Lough Neagh.
Unfortunately however, Northern Ireland’s natural environment isn’t as pristine as we like to think. We rank 229 out of 240 countries and territories globally in terms of nature that remains. Only 1 out of 21 lakes are of good quality, over a tenth (11%) of our species risk going extinct and 97% of our wildflower meadows have disappeared. We need to do something to change this, fast.
Stop, Collaborate and Listen
A drive to improve air quality and restore Northern Ireland’s natural heritage has brought together Asthma UK and The British Lung Foundation Northern Ireland, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Northern Ireland (RSPB), and Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) Northern Ireland Assembly member Dolores Kelly, Member of the Legislative Assembly, Upper Bann (MLA).
As part of our joint campaign Dolores has sponsored a private members bill in the Assembly. This seeks to put in place statutory protection for our nature and to promote public health in Northern Ireland. The bill is currently going through the drafting stage, you can read more about the bill in our previous blog here.
To promote the principles within the bill, we co-hosted a drop-in event for MLAs in Long Gallery in Stormont on 18th October. The event not only gave MLAs a chance to discuss the need for better environmental protections, but also an opportunity for them to sign the AUK-BLF Northern Ireland and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Northern Ireland list of pledges and commit to promoting these objectives:
· Put in place new legislation to halt and reverse biodiversity loss on land and sea and promote public health
· Secure legally binding targets to halt the decline of nature across Northern Ireland by 2030
· Secure legally binding targets to improve air quality and reduce pollution
· Establish an independent environment protection agency to uphold the law and give the environment and citizens a voice
· Work closely with other governments to address shared environmental issues and challenges
All party support for action
During the event, 31 MLAs from seven parties and one independent member signed the pledges. We were delighted to get substantial cross-party support from over a third of the Assembly. Among the signatories three Executive Ministers gave their commitment to the pledges: First Minister Paul Givan MLA; Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon MLA; and Education Minister Michelle McIlveen MLA.
“I myself have a mild form of asthma and I know how important it is to have clean air around us and this campaign is something that I give my support to.” First Minister of Northern Ireland, Paul Givan MLA.
Looking Forward
Speaking with the MLAs who signed our joint pledge there is a sense of urgency now around the need to tackle our global climate emergency. Legislation still needs to be put in place to focus the minds of the regional government in Northern Ireland, however there is a now a significant level of support for change.
Asthma UK and British Lung Foundation Northern Ireland continues to work alongside RSPB NI and Dolores Kelly MLA to finalise the text of the bill which we hope will reach the floor of the Assembly in the next few months.
Join the conversation
To keep up to date with all our work in Northern Ireland, follow us on twitter @Lungs_NI
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