In 1970, Neill Young first sang “Look at Mother Nature on the run, in the 1970s” in the song After the Gold Rush. He continues to sing this iconic song in his concerts across the world, though now amended to “Look at Mother Nature on the run, in the 21st century”.
It’s a line that perfectly captures how we look on, as crazy acts of destruction continue against the natural world, with wild creatures receding as their habitats disappear.
Tom Ankettell of Kanturk and District Trout Anglers fishing in the River Allow at Kanturk
Incidents such as the recent devastating fish kill on the Blackwater River in County Cork are not infrequent… each spill, leak or accidental toxic discharge driving remaining populations of native wild salmon and trout nearer to extinction. Industry non-compliance with effluent licences is still a major challenge, as public authorities struggle to find perpetrators and press charges in a legislative landscape that leaves much to be desired.
The Owenabue River flows towards Crosshaven, County Cork
The pressures on ‘Mother Nature’ that Neil Young sang about in the 1970s continue to mount, with exploitation, pollution and agricultural intensification continuing to rise. In the 1970s, however, there was little mainstream understanding of the degree of interconnection of environmental systems or of the existential threat that we all face if we fail to address the challenges. Now, 50 years later, the facts are well known and understood across society. There has never been stronger scientific consensus or general understanding about the processes by which human activities are dismantling the healthy functioning of essential ecosystems, in turn jeopardising the future possibilities for human well-being and prosperity.
There have been impressive efforts in recent decades to develop and implement appropriate responses. In the EU, a suite of environmental laws have improved how we manage waste, control industrial emissions, conduct environmental assessments, and safeguard the most threatened species and habitats from further decline. Problematic application of these environmental laws and insufficient resourcing have caused many bumps in the road, and progress have been slow. But without the range of legal environmental protections that we all now benefit from, things would be a lot worse.
A waterskier gets some practice in on the River Lee at Dripsey
And now, just as the impacts of climate change are exceeding what was predicted just a decade ago and greatly exacerbating the pressures on already compromised natural systems, there is new urgency to improve our collective commitment to environmental protection.
If we want wild fisheries to exist in decades to come, we need to redouble efforts to reduce pollution, restore rivers and establish an effective network of Marine Protected Areas. For terrestrial ecosystems and sustained agricultural productivity, space must be made for wild plants and pollinators they support. Protected areas, including wetlands that store carbon and prevent floods, need more resources to help habitats recover.
The Marina Promenade, beside the River Lee
But alarmingly, efforts are now afoot to do the exact opposite. At home in Ireland, our own Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has been attempting to greatly weaken legal protections for many Irish water bodies by reclassifying them as ‘heavily modified’, hence exempting these waterways from legal requirements under the Water Framework Directive to achieve “good ecological status”. And across the EU, as national parliamentarians swing to the right, the European Commission has been making moves to revisit and undermine hard-won environmental protections across the entire bloc.
In what environmental and civil society groups are calling a ‘Trojan horse’, the European Commission has discreetly launched a consultation about the “simplification of administrative burdens in environmental legislation”.
Works on the construction of a dedicated pedestrian and cycle bridge on the eastern side and downstream of the existing Bothar Guidel Road Bridge (R612) over the Owenabue River at Carrigaline County Cork
According to Fintan Kelly of the Irish Environmental Network, this consultation is an attempt by the European authorities “to manufacture a mandate to weaken the laws that shield the environment” and it is feared that “every piece of environmental legislation is at risk”.
The commission is seeking respondents to this consultation which is the beginning of an initiative that they say “will simplify and streamline administrative requirements related to the environment in the areas of waste, products, and industrial emissions”.
Kent Bridge and the River Blackwater at Fermoy, County Cork
I have worked in the area of implementing European environmental law for more than a decade and I understand how frustrating it is for many businesses and landowners to have to take account for environmental impacts and in many cases, change tack in order to avoid significant damage to waterways and protected habitats. Yet these laws have been the cornerstones of nature protection across Europe, often the only shield in place to prevent even more devastating losses than what have already been witnessed.
A coalition of civil society groups across Ireland and right across Europe is now calling on citizens to speak up for nature and respond to the Commissions consultation. If you still care about “mother nature on the run”, this is your opportunity to make your voice count and state your opposition to the proposed weakening of environmental laws across Europe.