Green groups dismayed

It is almost a year since the independent Review of Environmental Governance joined a raft of other experts and government advisors and told the Minister that a new agency was essential to put right years of environmental neglect. Green pressure groups now want answers from the Minister and the Executive on why they have ignored the advice of the independent review, and why they have chosen to apply ‘sticking plasters’ to tackle the threats faced by our environment.

Following the announcement from Arlene Foster on proposed changes to Environment and Heritage Service, the Coalition for Environmental Protection, comprising nine environment groups, with a collective membership of over 100,000 supporters in Northern Ireland, is urging political parties and others to press the Executive and the Environment Committee to challenge the decision.

Speaking on behalf of the coalition, Aidan Lonergan of RSPB said: ‘We fully supported the REGNI recommendation that an independent body is needed to rebuild public confidence in the way our environment is protected and to provide a fair and consistent regulator for business.

He added, ‘Instead, today’s proposals mean that the body responsible for protecting our environment will continue to be unable to speak out against those within or outside government that see our environment as a constraint on their activity, rather than the important economic and social asset it is to all the people of this country.’

John Woods of Friends of the Earth commented, ‘The DoE's own recent 'State of the Environment' report concludes that important wildlife sites remain unprotected, our rivers are dirty, the mountain of waste is increasing, and greenhouse gas emissions are some of the highest in Europe. We shouldn’t have to rely on the threat of fines from Brussels to achieve improvements. We believe many of the failures to achieve good environmental outcomes are a consequence of Environment and Heritage Service's situation inside Government. We are convinced that only an independent EPA will remedy the structural failings of the current system. Simply rebranding EHS is not enough.’

Hilary McGrady, the National Trust’s Director for Northern Ireland, said, ‘We have had full support for the creation of an independent agency from the Alliance Party, SDLP, Green Party, Sinn Fein and the UUP during our campaign and we are urging elected representatives from these parties to make their voices heard, even at this late stage.

‘We now look to the other three parties in the Executive to deliver on their clear manifesto promises to establish an independent EPA. In this partnership government, three of the four parties favour an EPA – this is a test for devolution and a test for democracy. Furthermore, the Assembly carried a motion last year to create an EPA. We want to see our politicians live up to their commitment to deliver an environmental champion through an independent EPA.’

The environmental organisations welcomed the commitment to bring forward an Environment White Paper, and to have a further review in 2011. However, Geoff Nuttall of WWF-NI commented:

‘While we welcome the Minister’s recognition that our environmental governance must change in order to make it fit for the modern world, we are united in our view that this outcome would be best achieved by establishing an independent environmental protection agency. Now - not in three years time - is the right time to step forward and grasp the opportunities devolution offers us to create structures that will deliver a high quality environment for our children.’