By Eniola Amadu
A review of environmental governance in Northern Ireland has called for an end to NI Water’s immunity from public prosecution over pollution incidents.
The report also recommends the establishment of an independent environmental regulator to strengthen oversight and accountability.
Review chair Dr Viviane Gravey of Queen’s University Belfast described it as a “call to action.”
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The final report sets out 32 recommendations aimed at improving clarity and coherence, ensuring independence, and promoting transparency, and accountability in environmental governance.
Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs minister, Andrew Muir, “fully accepted” the panel’s recommendation, saying he was “fully committed to better and stronger environmental governance”.
A panel was set up in 2024 by Mr Muir as a result of growing public concerns about the pollution of Northern Ireland’s Waterways.
Three experts make up the panel carrying out the review led by Dr Gravey. John McCallister from the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) and Diane Ruddock, a former worker with the National Trust for 37 years.
The team leader noted that the report comes at a period of “mounting stress” for the environment in Northern Ireland, saying “the signals cannot be ignored,” although there’s a need for more work to be done.
“Governance reform is an essential element of our response to the climate and nature crises.
“While our call for an independent environmental regulator is significant, this must be accompanied by a broad range of meaningful changes across the governance system, some of which could be implemented very quickly”.
Gravey expresses her belief that the recommendation was a practical path ahead.
“We believe our recommendations, taken as a whole, chart a practical and achievable way forward.”
The proposed new regulator would oversee key areas including air and water quality, waste management, biodiversity, and the marine environment, though the report notes that its precise responsibilities are yet to be defined.
Among its recommendations is the creation of an environmental governance map to clearly outline the roles and responsibilities of different bodies, alongside a requirement for all public authorities in Northern Ireland to have a “duty to co-operate.”
The 2020 New Decade, New Approach agreement had already pledged to establish an independent environmental protection agency.
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Currently, Northern Ireland has the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), created 16 years ago, but it operates as an agency of the devolved government, not as an independent body.
Despite this, environmental campaigners have called for a fresh independent organisation to hold polluters to account without interference.
