The Political Environment

Environmental Consequences of the Lisbon Treaty

2009-10-06T12:01:00.000+01:00

The Lisbon Treaty to reform EU processes, parliament, voting procedures and a whole host of other things was approved by 67.1% of the Irish electorate today. As long as the Czech and Polish Presidents sign and ratify the treaty it will become the new basis for how the EU functions. The Czech president is a notorious euroskeptic though so it may be some time for a complete EU ratification. What has this to do with the environment you might ask?

Lisbon introduces a concept known as Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) to many of the issues voted on in the Commission and Parliament of Europe. This means that to pass a law at EU level the support of 55% of the member states comprising 65% of the population is required. This removes the national veto that was previously in place. What has this to do with climate change and the environment you might ask?

This voting system will enable the EU to implement climate and environmental policy without needing the support of every member state. This may sound undemocratic in a way but it ensures that heavily industrialised nations cannot stand alone to veto carbon emission limits.

The next legal and political battleground for the environment will be at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen from Decemeber 7th 18th.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Biodiversity and Conservation

2009-09-26T17:31:00.001+01:00

This week I resumed college and one of my first classes is "Biodiversity and Conservation". One of the topics covered was how to define the value of conservation and the legal precedents set up to ensure that conservation techniques and standards are adhered to on a global basis. To begin this process an international treaty was drawn up by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).

The Convention on Biological Diversity was signed by the vast majority of the world’s nations in Brazil in 1992 and Article 2 provides the formal definition of biodiversity:

“"Biological diversity" means the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.”

Article 1 of the Convention acknowledges that biodiversity is a resource for exploitation by humanity. The objectives of the Convention are stated as being:

“..the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies, taking into account all rights over those resources and to technologies, and by appropriate funding”

This document has been signed and ratified by nearly every country with the exception of the Holy See, Somalia, Iraq and Andorra. The United States has signed but has not ratified the Convention thus giving it no legal power.

When considering biodiversity and its importance one must at this from many different angles. If we look at biodiversity from a human perspective in the context of a resource we can say that they provide a ‘service’ to us. Rock formations and other systems are involved in water filtration, nature provides a food resource in the form of other animals we hunt and consume, and the plants that we harvest and the forests and oceans act as controllers of climate. But one must also agree that animals, plants and fungi have an intrinsic value in themselves as they are alive and function in their own roles in life.

Biodiversity is of varyin importance to many people though. As a zoologist in training I am fascinated by nature and the abiotic and biotic interactions present, whereas a politician may look at biodiversity as a roadblock to a political goal. The former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is quoted as referring to "swans, snails and the occasional person hanging out of a tree" as obstacles to infrastructure development in Ireland.

If we are to find a balance between the conservation of our biodiversity and the development of our respective nations we will have to reach across the fence and have the politician and the environmentalist shake hands and refrain from ignorance and contempt.

Thanks to Dr. Mark Emmerson, Dept. Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science, University College Cork and http://www.cbd.int/.

Turning a leaf

2009-09-18T01:17:00.005+01:00

This is my new blog in which I will give commentary on eco-political issues and developments in renewable energy and sustainability. I am interested in these issues in both Ireland and the EU in addition to North America.