The recommendation of 99 ordinary citizens for the Irish Government is to hold a referendum, aimed towards making a binding constitutional amendment, to protect Biodiversity within the Republic of Ireland.

Listen to the interview between Alex King, an independent journalist reporting on climate change and other topics, and Jez Hall, from Shared Future CIC on Soundcloud.

Recorded in late December 2022, the 14 minute podcast considers how impactful the recommendation might be, and what influence it might have in the EU and in the UK. Jez also reflects on the parallel children’s and young people’s assembly on biodiversity loss.

Members of the citizens assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of holding a referendum of the people to amend the constitution with a view to protecting biodiversity. It was also recommended that this amendment should include a range of protections for substantive and procedural environmental rights for both people and nature.

The Assembly also endorsed a recommendation that the State has comprehensively failed in relation to biodiversity and made recommendations for fundamental change to the funding, implementation, and enforcement of national policies, EU biodiversity-related laws and relevant directives.

Read Alex’s article linked to making the podcast on the Euronews website.

More perspectives to the recommendation is available on the UK XR website.