Renowned environmental expert to speak at Lough Neagh conference in Belfast

Dr Eduardo Salazar-Ortuño

Dr Eduardo Salazar-Ortuño from the University of Murcia has been confirmed as the keynote speaker at the Lessons from Mar Menor – Can Law Help Restore Lough Neagh? climate justice conference which is taking place at the Ulster Museum in Belfast.

The conference has been organised in response to the growing environmental crisis at Lough Neagh and the significant issues it has raised including environmental regulation, wastewater infrastructure, agricultural policy, enforcement, political accountability, and public trust.

Organised by the Law Society of Northern Ireland’s Climate Justice Group the conference will provide a platform for meaningful discussion and expert contributions on key issues including how the legal profession can play a role in responding to large-scale ecological harm. The conference forms part of the wider work of the Climate Justice Group, which was established to examine sustainability and issues of climate justice, within the legal profession and wider society.

The society has secured Dr Eduardo Salazar-Ortuño who played a central role in the internationally recognised campaign to grant legal rights to Spain’s Mar Menor lagoon – a groundbreaking example of how legal systems can be used to protect ecosystems.

He will discuss the lessons learned from Mar Menor and how they can be applied to finding solutions at Lough Neagh.

Other notably speakers include Dr Thomas Muinzer, reader in energy transition law at the University of Aberdeen; Dr Ciara Brennan, director, Environmental Justice Network Ireland; Professor John Barry from QUB; Dr Gary Curran, director of engineering & sustainability, Northern Ireland Water; Laura Neal, Friends of the Earth and Bernadette McAliskey, a former MP.

Simon Chambers, chair of the society’s Climate Justice Group, said: “Without doubt the environmental crisis at Lough Neagh is one of the defining environmental challenges that has ever faced Northern Ireland and the response to date raises questions around a range of interconnected themes, ranging from governance and public accountability to public health and biodiversity. We believe this conference will provide a timely and constructive forum for identifying problems and offering real solutions”.

The conference will be attended by legal professionals, Judiciary, academics and students as well as environmental campaigners, policy makers, local politicians and community representatives.