Now almost three years in operation, the Centre for Environmental Justice at Community Law & Mediation has seen a diverse range of issues present at its free legal advice clinics and is currently preparing for its first landmark climate case.
Climate change and other environmental harms adversely affect a broad range of human rights that are recognised and protected under national, EU and international law, including the right to life, food, water, adequate shelter, sanitation, health, culture, and the recently recognised right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.
Established in 2021, the Centre for Environmental Justice’s (CEJ) objective is to ensure that low income and marginalised communities in Ireland are not disproportionately impacted by climate change or other environmental harms, and that environmental measures and climate action protect and build equality and social justice. It offers free legal advice, representation, information and education on environmental justice and advocates for a rights-based approach to environmental policy and law reform.
The CEJ opened amid concurrent climate, housing and cost-of-living crises and these intersectional challenges are reflected in the issues presenting at its free legal advice clinics. These include, for example, health problems arising from substandard accommodation and poor access to sanitation and clean water; poor air quality; energy poverty and problems accessing retrofit schemes; lack of access to green space and amenities; and lack of environmental enforcement in relation to issues such as illegal dumping, noise pollution, water pollution and dereliction.
A series of talks and webinars delivered by the CEJ aim to build awareness of environmental rights in the community, and highlight the connections between community health, energy poverty, housing and the environment.
The CEJ also seeks to inform and influence the rapidly changing policy landscape, making submissions and engaging with other social justice organisations, local authorities and public bodies on priority areas such as the right to breathe clean air and the National Clean Air Strategy; the Energy Poverty Action Plan; the Climate Action Plan and compliance with Ireland’s 2021-25 legally-binding carbon budget; access to justice, public participation and the Planning and
Development Bill; and the importance of a constitutional right to adequate housing as part of a just transition.
In its first landmark climate case, the CEJ is representing Friends of the Irish Environment in a legal challenge over the Irish Government’s failure to show with a sufficient level of specificity that the Climate Action Plan 2023 and its Annex of Actions will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with Ireland’s legally binding carbon budgets – a breach of the Government’s legal duties under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 (as amended).
The case is taking place at a critical juncture for climate action in Ireland. Despite being one of the first countries in the world to declare a climate and biodiversity emergency, Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions remain persistently high, the third worst per capita in the EU27. The latest projections by the Environmental Protection Agency and An Taisce show that Ireland will fall significantly short of its 2030 legally binding emissions reductions targets.
Unprecedented heatwaves, wildfires and floods were experienced worldwide this year. In Ireland, high temperatures and drought in the earlier part of the year affected the growth of crops that have long been considered staples, while flooding in recent weeks has damaged homes, businesses and infrastructure around the country. The longer climate action is delayed, the more difficult, disruptive and ultimately unjust Ireland’s transition is likely to become.
Leave to proceed with the case was granted by the High Court earlier this year and the case listed again for 22 January 2024.
The CEJ’s vision rests on the full realisation of fundamental rights for all, ensuring people’s needs are met within a socially just and ecologically sustainable economy and society. It will continue to work with communities and organisations towards a fairer, safer, and more joyful world. Further reading: Check out the Manual for Environmental Justice, an all-island digital toolkit which resources and connects organisations and communities across the island of Ireland on intersectional environmental issues - developed in partnership with Environmental Justice Network Ireland.
Further reading: Check out the Manual for Environmental Justice, an all-island digital toolkit which resources and connects organisations and communities across the island of Ireland on intersectional environmental issues - developed in partnership with Environmental Justice Network Ireland.