As EU Environment and Climate Ministers meet in Dublin this week, we want to remind the Ministers that strong environmental policies help create the conditions for people and companies to make sustainable choices.
Policies and regulations shaped at European level influence the choices available to people across Ireland, affecting how we use resources and how communities respond to climate change and biodiversity loss. Grassroots organisations such as GAP Ireland know that people and companies want to play their part in creating a more sustainable future, but that practical, financial and social barriers can often make change difficult. Strong environmental policies, supported by investment and support, help remove those barriers and make sustainable choices easier, fairer and more accessible.
GAP Ireland has argued that Europe’s environmental leadership depends on maintaining trust and consistency. For many years, EU standards have helped drive progress both within Europe and internationally, with European rules often influencing practices beyond EU borders; a phenomenon known as the “Brussels Effect”.
Environmental action works best when people have the support, opportunities and systems they need to make change happen.
Strong environmental policies create the conditions for communities, businesses and individuals to choose more sustainable ways of living. Protecting nature and reducing emissions are not obstacles to prosperity. They are essential foundations for healthier communities, a more resilient economy and a better quality of life. The challenge is now to ensure that the transition is practical, fair and works for everyone.
The meeting of EU Environment and Climate Ministers takes place amid wider discussions about simplifying European regulation and improving competitiveness.
GAP Ireland believes that making legislation work effectively is important, but that this should not come at the cost of weakening the environmental safeguards that protect people and ecosystems.
Recent polling commissioned by the Irish Environmental Network found strong public support for maintaining or strengthening EU environmental protections. Almost eight in ten people surveyed said Ireland’s EU Presidency should work to strengthen or uphold existing protections, while only a small minority supported weakening them.
The climate transition will only succeed if people and businesses have the support and systems they need to take part.
The role of policy is not to make sustainable choices harder, but to remove the barriers that prevent people from making them. Europe’s environmental leadership should be about creating the conditions for everyone to contribute.