We all own the bog

We have no map for renewables

The State are not doing the very basics of what they are supposed to do

Bórd na Móna should be holding this land in Trust

What are we prepared to do? 

Do you know about The Land Use Review? 

Do we have the time? 

The Law says very little

The renewable energy directive and the nature restoration law, they did not think of each other 

Intersectional policies do not exist

There’s no simple answer

We need a 10% reduction in fossil fuel emissions to achieve the limit of 2 degrees of global warming… it’s a whole other kind of society.

What are we prepared to do? 

Chaos or Democracy?

We need to restructure from the top down

We need to lead and demand from the bottom up

We have no spatial plan for renewable energy infrastructures – the government has defaulted on this and are speaking out of both sides of their mouth

The government are becoming more autocratic, more centralised

“Do you feel listened to at a National Level?”

NO!

Why not organise a Peatlands Council, All Island? 

Are we equipping people to understand the power and agency and influence that they do have? 

We need time for consensus building and understanding

Wind Farms won’t reduce Carbon Emissions

We need to stop burning Fossil Fuels

But as it stands,

There is huge investment going into Gas Fired Power Stations here

Cattle, Bombs and Carbon

What about the Rights of Nature and the Nature Restoration Law? 

Wind Farms have so much money behind them, it’s rare to see the applications stopped

And there is no direct link between wind farms being built and a reduction in fossil fuel use or carbon emissions- there’s no way to know if the claims are true, we don’t have a systemic way of counting

We have know systemic way of suppressing emissions, we only have a system of building things

What we can do?

Nature restoration Law, gather data, observe systematically, make records, pay attention, speak out, map and track the contradictions, call them out together. 

Joy. 

These note were taken during the CONVERSATIONS AT CORNAFULLA event on Thursday 30th July, featuring the following panels:

4.30pm – Law and Environment

“When policy does not decide, what decides the future of a bog?”

Chaired by Ella McSweeney, journalist, broadcaster and presenter, with Thomas Ball, Nature, Biodiversity and Land Use Lead at KPMG Ireland; Dr Alison Hardiman, barrister and consultant in climate and environmental law; and Fred Logue, environmental and planning lawyer.

5.45pm – Nature and Education

“Nature at the Centre – Changing education for biodiversity, climate and the future children are inheriting.”

With Patrick Kirwan, science teacher and Director of the Irish Schools Sustainability Network, and Dr Jessica Foley, lecturer, poet and researcher.

Please visit https://www.cornafullamicroreserve.com/ for more information.