Ireland imports Latvian peat while private firms keep exporting
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
In 2021 private firms exported more than 500,000 tonnes of peat from Ireland, while Ireland began importing peat from Latvia. The High Court had ruled against parts of the commercial peat rules in 2019.
- Klasmann-Deilmann — Said it exported about 95% of its peat TheJournal
- Private peat exporters — Exported more than 500,000 tonnes of peat in the first eleven months of 2021 TheJournal
- Irish peat bogs — More than 500,000 tonnes of peat were exported in the first eleven months of 2021 TheJournal
What happened
In 2019 Ireland's High Court found, in a case brought by Friends of the Irish Environment, that parts of the commercial peat rules conflicted with EU directives, and required multi-stage permits for bogs over 30 hectares (Irish Times).
The first horticultural peat imported to Ireland came from Latvia: 3,600 tonnes, shipped about 3,000 km, at a cost of up to three times domestic peat.
In the first eleven months of 2021, more than 500,000 tonnes of peat worth 94 million euro were exported and 42,800 tonnes imported; exports were about 11.5 times imports (TheJournal / Noteworthy).
Klasmann-Deilmann said it exported about 95% of its peat (TheJournal / Noteworthy).
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
- 2019Claimant wonFriends of the Irish Environment peat caseHigh Court of Ireland · Civil · Friends of the Irish Environment → Not stated in the sources reviewed
The court found that parts of the commercial peat production rules conflicted with EU environmental impact assessment and habitats directives.
Insurers
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: Bord na Móna's last full harvest was in 2018, and it ended peat cutting permanently in January 2021.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: about 850,000 acres of active raised bog mapped in the early 1800s had been reduced to about 1% by the time of the 2019 ruling.
- None on record The source for the first Latvian import shipment is not linked in the sources reviewed, and the year of that shipment is not stated.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not name the defendant in the 2019 High Court case.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Press and investigations
- Ireland peat exports (TheJournal / Noteworthy)TheJournal · 2021