GFA, Brexit & Environment Report 19 April 2019
Report on the Good Friday Agreement, Brexit and the Environment launched (via Environmental Pillar)
Northern Ireland Environment Link – examines the cross–border environmental
co–operation supported by the Agreement.
Launched at an event at Leinster House, the report stresses that firming up the structures and institutions set–up under the Agreement could minimise some of the negative impacts arising from the removal of the existing common EU regulatory standards.
Brexit poses a major environmental threat to the island of Ireland if there is not a common set of standards for tackling issues such as invasive species, emissions standards, water quality, and hazardous waste.
The report outlines several key threats posed by Brexit to our single bio–geographic region, namely:
- Regulatory divergence that could lead to governance gaps and deterioration in standards, posing countless risks to biodiversity on the island
- Weakening of legislative protection in the North caused by the loss of the EU’s oversight and enforcement mechanisms
- Potential loss of significant stream of cross–border funding
- Physical blockage of cross–border co–operation posed by a hard border scenario
These obstacles could be tackled, through better use of the institutions established under the Agreement as a vehicle to maintain high standards in policy and regulatory alignment on the island, the report states.
