Eco Jurisprudence Monitor

Ireland Citizen Assembly Proposed Constitutional Amendment Recognizing Rights of Nature

Ireland
National
Submitted in 2022
Nature
Dr Ciara Brennan, Director, EJNI; Dr Peter Doran, QUB School of Law/EJNI; Alison Hough BL, Technological University of the Shannon/EJNI; Sabrina Joyce-Kemper, Environmental Advocate; Dr Rachel Killean, Sydney Law School; Prof Peadar Kirby, Cloughjordan Ecovillage, University of Limerick; Bróna McNeill LLM, QUB Law School/EJNI; Claire Nevin BL, Lawyers for Nature/Ecojustice Ireland, Barrister; Declan Owens LLB LLM BL, Ecojustice Ireland, Solicitor; Lynda Sullivan, Writer and Earth Activist/EJNI; Dr Brendan Tobin, Marie-Sklowdowska Curie Research Fellow at National University of Ireland, Galway

Summary

In 2022, the Irish government convened a Citizens Assembly on Biodiversity Loss to examine how the Irish state can improve its response to the issue of biodiversity loss, and to bring forward proposals in that regard. On September 1, 2022, legal professionals across Ireland and the UK submitted to the Citizens Assembly on Biodiversity Loss a proposal to hold a referendum to amend Ireland’s constitution to recognize rights of nature. In November 2022, the Citizens Assembly voted overwhelmingly (83 percent in favor) to support the proposal and included it in the committee’s recommendations to the government.