'We still don’t have an independent Environmental Protection Agency to hold the government to account.'
Aside from the landmark Climate Bill for Northern Ireland passing and some new electric buses - this year has been a major let down for the climate, environment and biodiversity in Northern Ireland.Water pollution from sewage and farm effluent is mounting - with no end in sight or even proper fines for the perpetrators.We’re still not building future-proof homes. There’s been no real move towards any major schemes to retrofit homes and help people to cut their energy bills.
Our EV charging network leaves a lot to be desired and the grants for making the move towards electric have been cut to within an inch of their life.They say we need to reduce meat consumption in this wee place by a third - not that Stormont has taken any real heed and is still facilitating livestock growth at the expense of nature.
Intensive pig and chicken farming is growing, despite the impact on the animals and the huge amounts of waste they create which is then spread across the countryside in sometimes illegal ways. Quarries are still largely unregulated with some still operating with permissions older than my mum and the Historic Review of Old Minerals Permissions Nichola Mallon told her department to sort in her last move as Minister - is no further forward.
We need cycle lanes and a major rethink of our city and town centres to promote active travel, remove car parking spaces and make more areas pedestrian and bike only - although hats off to group like Sustrans NI and community campaigns that are making some inroads here.Then there’s the influx of companies wanting to extract all the gold, other precious metals and stone out of this place they can - and we have not updated the legislation on this for decades.