Ireland has no known legal commercial peat extraction. Yet it exported €40m worth last year More than 370,000 tonnes of material sold to 21 different countries in 2025, including Israel

If there was really appetite to regulate nevermind bring peat extraction to an end, surely an export ban on unlawfully extracted peat (all Irish peat) would be starting point? Require proof: source, permission, EIA, EPA licence.

Kudos @codohertynews.bsky.social

www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

Open letter to IE govt: protesting the continuing delays in issuing the 2026 update to the Climate Action Plan (CAP26), and the spurious grounds being offered for that. www.postcarbonireland.org/etc/2026/Let...

The State Duty Not to Approve New Fossil Fuels

Courts worldwide are increasingly being asked to set limits on government support for fossil fuels to keep the public safe.

In this blog I argue that State approval of new fossil fuel projects is incompatible with international law, and I examine what this means for upcoming cases. 1/3

Wow! Even under "low" emissions scenario AMOC shutdown probability now assessed at 25%! I mean... TWENTY FIVE PER CENT🤯😱 People: time to pay attention!

Ten years of climate litigation - Climate Litigation Network report: laying the foundations for our shared future How ten years of climate cases built a legal architecture for climate protection President of PISFCC, Cynthia Houniuhi, speaks at the Peace Palace,...

A new report by the Climate Litigation Network charts the global impact of
a decade of climate cases:

climatelitigationnetwork.org/TenYearsClim...

#climatelitigation

Plan to raise cost of judicial reviews could lead to people representing themselves in court Law professor warns move could leave courts even more congested

Plan to raise cost of judicial reviews could lead to people representing themselves in court

www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

Plan to raise cost of judicial reviews could lead to people representing themselves in court Law professor warns move could leave courts even more congested

“I do fear that if attempts are made to cut back on rights of participation and to cut back on the right of access to the courts, people will still find a way and it might well be a way that’s going to be a lot more difficult to control.”

- Prof Áine Ryall #Law

www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

BREAKING: The EU watchdog just replied to our complaints. And she stands with us.

She has found that the @ec.europa.eu committed maladministration when it prepared its Omnibus I and 2024 CAP proposals to roll back key environmental protections.

Here are the findings:⬇️

Huge news from the UK today: after UN climate talks in which there was a massive fight over language on fossil fuels, the UK government today announced that it will in fact be keeping many millions of barrels of oil & gas in the ground. Deeds rather than just words for a change! 🧵

Lorcan Sirr: Judicial reviews are not the problem – and deregulation is no answer We have seen before how cutting ‘red tape’ leads to disaster, especially in planning and housing

Must-read: "Politicians should be careful about what the lobbyists wish for – the latter’s cures often make things worse.
The planning system is a key part of democracy and the legal system is how citizens hold power to account. Tinker with them at your peril"

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

On Environmental Democracy and the Collisons’ “Abundance-Verse” Andrew Jackson 21 November 2025 I. Introduction A clamour of praise greeted John Collison’s “how to get Ireland moving” Op-Ed following its publication in the Irish Times on 25th October: the Irish…

I’ve written something on John Collison’s Op-Ed and environmental democracy

Next time you’re out in Dublin, check if you’re being “socially de-risked” by a friendly face from his think-tank

elajucd.com/2025/11/21/o...

Opinion: Beware of the judicial review red herring Dr Orla Kelleher pushes back against the narrative that judicial reviews are to blame for the housing crisis.

Dr Orla Kelleher pushes back against the narrative that judicial reviews are to blame for the housing crisis.

Looking forward to speaking about climate law & KlimaSeniorinnen alongside @orlakelleher.bsky.social on 13th November at the Law Soc’s annual Environmental and Planning Law conference.

Registration details here www.lawsociety.ie/productdetai...

Happy to see this new article published yesterday - co-authored with @orlakelleher.bsky.social

“The implications of the European Court of Human Rights' climate rulings for climate litigation in Ireland: a new legal reality”, in the Irish Planning and Environmental Law Journal

Been working on an article over the summer? Please consider submitting to the Irish Journal of European Law!

Call for papers below - please circulate! Deadline for submissions 31 October 2025.

Previous volume: isel.ie/ijel/volume-...

Quote: An obligation to quantify each country’s fair share of the remaining global carbon budget associated with limiting global heating to 1.5°C flows from the judgment in KlimaSeniorinnen.

How wide is the margin of appreciation that states have when setting national carbon budgets under the ECtHR’s KlimaSeniorinnen judgment? 🌍📉

@andrewlrjackson.bsky.social and @orlakelleher.bsky.social explain why the margin is narrower than argued on this blog.

verfassungsblog.de/quantifying-...

Bord na Móna of course ceased peat extraction in 2021, while others continue unlawfully.

Illegal peat harvesting is still taking place on a large scale, EPA report finds Local authority enforcement is ‘patently inadequate’, with equipment and warehouses on some sites

Regarding the claim here that “Bord na Móna was an excellent example of appropriate engagement with environmental regulations working”

Bord na Móna had EPA licences but did not have planning permission for any of its peat extraction. Other companies have neither.

www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

Write up of UCD’s MSc in Env and Climate Law trip to Brussels this week, part of my comparative ‘Environmental Moot Court’ module, run in partnership with universities in France, Germany & NL:

www.ucd.ie/law/news/ucd... @ucdschooloflaw.bsky.social

Call for papers for the next volume of the Irish Journal of European Law. Please circulate & consider submitting something yourself! Deadline for submissions: 23rd May 2025.

Previous volume: isel.ie/ijel/volume-...

Call for papers for the next volume of the Irish Journal of European Law. Please circulate widely and consider submitting something yourself! Deadline for submissions: 23rd May 2025.

Previous volume: isel.ie/ijel/volume-...

Very happy to report that the latest volume of the Irish Journal of European Law has just been published! isel.ie/ijel/volume-...

Lots of interesting articles, as ever, and look out for the forthcoming call for papers for the next volume.

Vol 26 on Westlaw soon and on HeinOnline later.

Truly, we are at a moment when we need organizations — the ABA, ALI, law firms, law schools — speaking out.

As Judge Coughenour said, “There are other times in world history where we look back and people of goodwill can say where were the judges, where were the lawyers?”

It’s time for the lawyers.

Glad to see the excellent article by Andrew Jackson & Orla Kelleher in the special edition of the Irish Jurist that I edited on Law in a Time of Crises was cited in today's High Court ruling by Humphreys J in Friends II courts.ie/acc/alfresco...

UCD is hiring an Ad Astra Fellow: Lecturer/Assistant Professor in International Law and Global Justice (incl climate justice)
www.ucd.ie/adastrafello...

Initial term 5 yrs with possibility of permanency after a 4-year review. Closing date: 12 noon (Irish time) on 21st Feb 2025.

Please share!

CEJ Webinar - Ireland's Climate Justice Obligations: Legal, Scientific, and Policy Priorities. YouTube video by Community Law And Mediation CLM

Provided short (<15 min) presentation www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCaD... on 1.5-2°C carbon budgets, downscaling from Global values to Ireland. My contribution starts at 4m15s.

Thanks to Rose Wall & Clodagh Daly of communitylawandmediation.ie @clmirl.bsky.social for organising the online event

The Fellow will have demonstrated expertise in public international law and diverse global justice theories.
Ad Astra appointments are made at Lecturer/Assistant Professor grade. The initial term will be five years.
Closing date: 21st February 2025 (12:00 noon IST).
Competition ref no: 018086

In other @ucdschooloflaw.bsky.social news, applications are invited for an Ad Astra Fellowship in International Law and Global Justice. This recruitment opportunity is part of @ucddublin.bsky.social's plan to hire 50 early-career faculty through the Ad Astra Fellows prog
www.ucd.ie/workatucd/jo...

This was a great talk. I recommend watching the recording when it is made available.

Some great insights about the ‘new legal reality’ of the climate act and how it is being interpreted in the courts.

Thanks to Rose Wall @clmirl.bsky.social and all the speakers for putting this together