The chairperson of the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, Dr. Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, has welcomed the government’s response to the Citizens’ Assembly recommendations.
Commenting, Dr. Ni Shúilleabháin said: “I am delighted that the government has responded in such positive terms to the report and recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly.
“It is heartening to see that, of the 159 recommendations, 134 are in progress, another 15 are already being implemented and just 10 are not being implemented.
“The Citizens’ Assembly has provided a comprehensive assessment of how the state should respond to the biodiversity crisis. Its 73 high-level and 86 sectoral recommendations have the potential to dramatically transform Ireland’s relationship with the natural environment.
“But there is no doubt that this ambitious transformation agenda requires a fundamental change in how the state approaches the issue,” she added.”
Ní Shúilleabháin added that the response from government, together with the earlier response from the Oireachtas Joint Committee, is a “validation of the hard work” by the members of the Citizens’ Assembly.
“As we approach the UN COP16 in Riyadh next month, the government’s response provides a timely injection of optimism and a signal that, with the right political will, Ireland can play its full part in responding with urgency, leadership and ambition to the biodiversity crisis that confronts us all,” she continued.
Some of the recommendations included that the business community engage with biodiversity and show leadership and that all biodiversity incentives and grants should be results-based.
Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss
The Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, which ran from April 2022 until January 2023, was formally established by way of resolutions of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann.
It comprised of 100 members, including 99 members of the public, randomly selected from households across Ireland, and an independent chairperson appointed by the Taoiseach.
At its final meeting on January 21, 2023, the assembly voted on a series of propositions that were the culmination of deliberation and debate, informed by detailed input from experts, stakeholders and the general public.
After deliberating on how the state can improve its response to the issue of biodiversity loss, the assembly agreed 159 recommendations.
These 73 high-level recommendations and 86 sectoral-specific recommendations were agreed through a mixture of consensus agreement and ballots.
In accordance with its Terms of Reference, both the Oireachtas and the government have now considered, and responded to, the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly.
The government confirmed this week that over 90% of recommendations are ‘in progress’ or have been ‘implemented’.
Minister of State with responsibility for nature, heritage and electoral reform, Malcolm Noonan, said: “The work of the Citizens’ Assembly and the Children and Young People’s Assembly showed very clearly why we need to take an ‘all-of-government, all-of-society’ approach to reversing biodiversity loss.
“Deliberative democracy is a powerful tool for society to explore complex problems from new perspectives, and the insights that the assemblies presented were enormously beneficial in helping the government to shape a new National Biodiversity Action Plan for Ireland.
“We made great efforts to work collaboratively, across departments, and to deeply consider the recommendations that they made.”