Climate change and the need for legislation to address it still remains a debate in Northern Ireland (NI), where specific legislation has not yet been… Read More »Climate Change legislation in Northern Ireland: Is it just a lot of hot air?
Since the introduction of Japanese Knotweed as an ornamental plant in the nineteenth century, it has spread throughout watercourses, transport routes and waste ground, out-competing native plants and damaging buildings and infrastructure. This article examines some of the legislative options available for tackling it and asks whether some of the measures pursued elsewhere may be applicable in Northern Ireland.
Read More »How do you control a space invader? The problem of Japanese Knotweed in Northern Ireland
As the Prime Minister prepares to trigger Article 50, this blog post looks at the potential consequences for environmental standards here in Northern Ireland.
Read More »How much change can we expect to current environmental requirements post Brexit?
How might leaving the European Union impact on environmental policy, funding and legislation in Northern Ireland?
The plant disease and invasive species threat posed to the environment in Northern Ireland is increasing, and likely to continue to do so due to factors such as increasing world trade and the potential impacts of climate change. These factors also increase the potential risk of the threats that we face diversifying and affecting a wider range of plant species.
Read More »A clear and present danger: Plant disease and invasive species
Prolonged heavy rainfall over the winter of 2015 has shown how devastating flooding can be to homes, businesses and critical infrastructure. With predictions that localised flooding will become an ever more common occurrence, how prepared is Northern Ireland to manage flood risk?
Read More »Managing Flood risk in Northern Ireland: Are we prepared?
At the beginning of the last Assembly mandate in 2011, the Research and Information Service wrote a piece on the possibility of new legislation for Northern Ireland, ‘Climate Change: the need to raise the game’ [page 90 | PDF | 4.7mb]. Five years on, the climate change debate still remains and legislation specific to Northern Ireland has not yet been introduced. However, discussions around the introduction of legislation have more recently picked up momentum again.
Local government underwent significant structural change in 2015 with the number of councils reducing from 26 to 11, and the transfer of many functions from central to local government. This has brought changes to the ways in which the environment is managed. In 2016, these changes have continued with a reorganisation of Executive functions.
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