Conscientious Observers

Was February 2023 the month of surprises or not? Brigid, a long-established Patron Saint of Ireland, was finally granted a public holiday following her feast day on 1^st of February, which for generations has been recognised as the first day of the Spring season. As legend has it, by the time Brigid was eighteen and no longer a slave to her father, a chieftain of Leinster, she dedicated the remainder of her life to helping others, until her death at age 75.

Then on 9^th of February, 2023 the opinion of the Advocate General ĆAPETA in Case C-444/21 European Commission v Ireland, proposed “that the Court declare that Ireland has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 6(1) of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992^[1] on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, by failing to establish the necessary conservation measures which correspond to the ecological requirements of the natural habitat types in Annex I to that directive and the species in Annex II thereto present on the sites”.

Rightly, you might ask, how are all these connected? While the mantra at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic from those in authority was “We are all in this together”, it was after almost two years of relentless efforts by front-line workers caring for others in society that recognition materialised in the granting of this public holiday. Secondly, the season of Spring is signalled by the emergence of new shoots and Nature’s awakening from its slumbers over the Winter season respite, once again reminding us that we too inhabit this wonderful natural world. The opinion of the Advocate General, a stark reminder that even after thirty years our attitudes towards our natural environment have changed little. As engineers we awaited in anticipation to see how our environmental obligations would be strengthened in the forthcoming revision to our Code of Ethics.

Human-Dominated Ecosystems

Indeed, our dependence on Nature’s resources has been documented frequently over the years. For example, in 1997, Vitousek^[2], published a paper on our domination of the Earth’s ecosystems. At the time he acknowledged that human-dominated ecosystems would typically have implied the expansion of agriculture and growth in urbanisation; with nearly one-half of the land surface transformed by human action, a 30% increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide since the commencement of the Industrial Revolution and half of all accessible surface fresh water now utilised by humanity. While the transformation of land to yield goods and services may appear the most obvious, Vitousek contends that there is no ecosystem on Earth’s surface free of pervasive human influence. With continued population increase, the resource base to support humanity, in terms of agriculture, fishing, industry and global commerce will also increase, thus altering the very ecosystems we rely on.

Perhaps, the challenges we face are more significant than we think. The transition from self-interest to the betterment of our local community is the stage we are finding most difficult to progress. What is more worrying is that while we are beginning to appreciate the existence of the whole Earth community, observers of more recent times would concede that some world leaders are taking a retrograde step by voicing insular decrees. When we focus on self, we are less aware of the impact our own prejudices are having on Society. There are just two things on this material earth, remarks Pinchot^[3]; “people and natural resource. A constant and sufficient supply of natural resources is the basic human problem”.

Our attention is quickly drawn to the realities of our rising demands on the natural world, remarks Smith^[4], however eminently laudable and desirable a goal global modernisation and prosperity is. Lifestyle is the “most potent multiplier of human pressure on the world resource base than its total population itself”. We rely completely on the natural world for our very existence and the natural world relies on its biodiversity to operate smoothly so it can continue to provide our life supports. The Advocate General, aptly contextualised his opinion in Case C-444/21 in saying; “Biodiversity not only has an intrinsic value, but it is also of utmost importance for human survival. According to the World Economic Forum, the possible consequences arising from biodiversity loss include, at least, food insecurity, exacerbation of climate change and risks to health, business and culture.”

Our obligations, to the Environment and Society therefore, as professional engineers are of paramount importance. The President (2005-2006) of Engineers Ireland wrote^[5]; “The issue of ‘sustainability’ in economic development is not an academic question….Every member of Engineers Ireland must take the issue of the environment more seriously, and by doing so we can make a significant contribution to the provision of viable responses to the challenges society faces in this area.”

What therefore, has motivated the leadership in Engineers Ireland to remove all references to sustainable development; exclude any reference to Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss; and, erase the section on members’ obligations to the environment and society from the latest revision to the Code of Ethics(2023)?

Environmental Way of Living

The word ethics is derived from the Greek word ‘ethos’, which means ‘way of living’. While both the interpretation and application of ethics and good governance varies the following understanding by the Office of Public Service Values and Ethics (OPSVE), at the Canadian Government is appropriate here; “ethics is a branch of philosophy that is concerned with human conduct, more specifically the behaviour of individuals in society. Ethics examines the rational justification for our moral judgements; it studies what is morally right or wrong, just or unjust.”

Homan^[6] articulates succinctly his observation that “The ethical positioning of the [Engineering] profession, in turn, influences the engineering curriculum, as it is the ethical standards at the core of the engineering profession that underpin the learning outcomes included in the engineering curriculum, concerning ethics as prescribed by the relevant professional body”.

The title Chartered Engineer is the only engineering title that has statutory protection in Ireland. Engineers Ireland (formally known as the Institution of Engineers of Ireland) was afforded this privilege by The Institution of Civil Engineers (Charter Amendment) Act, 1969. Engineers Ireland has the responsibility for setting the criteria to obtain the title ‘Chartered Engineer’ and to maintain appropriate standards. Therefore, the continuance of the privileged autonomy Engineers Ireland enjoys is contingent on maintaining the confidence of the government and the public in its governance arrangements. For example:

For a considerable period of time, the West Region of Engineers Ireland has had a strong focus on its contribution to the sustainable development of the West Region. In 2008, the West Region Committee of Engineers Ireland adopted a plan to develop a comprehensive report in this regard. The ‘Engineering the West to 2020 – Reinventing Our Region’ report was based on a sustainability framework for development of the West Region of Ireland using the 10 principles of One Planet Living^® and was launched at the Engineers Ireland National Conference 2011 in Galway.

“We Chartered Engineers and members of Engineers Ireland are already cognisant of our responsibility to our living world. Our Code of Ethics [2018] makes our commitment to sustainability crystal clear.” ^[7] In recognition of our individual and collective responsibility to act to address the threat to our planet, the members of the West Region Committee of Engineers Ireland, at its committee meeting on 29^th November 2019 unanimously voted to put down a motion on ‘Climate Change & Biodiversity Loss’, {grounded in the environmental and social obligations as defined in the Engineers Ireland Code of Ethics(2009 & 2018)} to be presented as a motion before Engineers Ireland Council at its meeting in December 2019.

At that Council meeting a Vice President “believed the motion requires more time to review and socialise the idea, suggested it is perhaps premature to put it to a vote today”. The agenda item was brought to a conclusion on the basis that “given the appetite in the room to have additional time to consider the topic and how best to progress the issue, the motion was deferred”. At its February 2020 meeting, Engineers Ireland Council opted instead to approve a text on Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss, in advance of it being written, over a motion that already had been through a process at committee level in the Engineers Ireland West Region. The choice of this unwritten text over the motion appears to have been to have something to include in a speech the President (2019-2020) would make for the first ‘World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development’ on 4^th March 2020.

Later that same year a senior representative of Engineers Ireland would consider the topic of ‘sustainability’ as being new to Society! A surprising statement considering ‘Delivering Sustainability’ was the theme of the Engineers Ireland National Conference (2003), hosted by the Northern Branch. Perhaps the wisdom expressed by the President (2005-2006) at that time, is still ahead of its time with those in recent leadership roles?

However, just like the commencement of Spring, green shoots started to emerge, and a sustainability framework was established in Engineers Ireland. According to the ‘Sustainability Framework Progress Report 2020-2021’, in its role of Advocacy and Regulation, we are reminded that “Engineers Ireland is a leader for the engineering profession and broader Irish society through media, member communications, public policy and public affairs. Our leadership on sustainability will be pivotal to the success of national climate action policies and the transition to carbon neutrality. We also play a regulatory role for our membership through our Bye-laws, Code of Ethics and Membership Regulations.” Action nine in the Sustainability Framework Progress Report 2020-2021 sets out to “Revise and communicate the Engineers Ireland Code of Ethics to strengthen members’ commitment to sustainable engineering practice and climate action”. This action is “led by a member group and Ethics & Disciplinary Board with recommendations to Council”.

The Engineers Ireland ‘Statement of Strategic Intent 2021-2023’ was launched on 18^th January 2021 by An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin. In this document, Engineers Ireland makes a number of statements regarding sustainability and climate action, including:

Deciding the Direction of Travel

In the absence of a Strategic Plan for this period, the ‘Statement of Strategic Intent 2021-2023’ is all the Council of Engineers Ireland has at its disposal to approve the direction of travel the Institution intended to take. The statements therein are so important that one in particular is worth repeating again: “Engineers Ireland is making a strategic commitment to sustainability and climate action in this Statement of Strategic Intent”. What follows are the environmental and social obligation clauses that were in the 2009 and 2018 revisions to the Code of Ethics:

At its Council meeting in December 2022, Council members voted, notwithstanding the commitments in the ‘Statement of Strategic Intent 2021-2023’ to omit all the environmental and social obligation clauses 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 & 2.5 in the Code of Ethics(2018) and replace them in the revised edition of the Code of Ethics(2023) as follows:

What is noteworthy is that the omission of the environmental and social obligations section from the Code of Ethics has happened during the first term of the recently appointed Vice President (2022) of Engineers Ireland, the current Director General of the Environmental Protection Agency who also received their professional title of Chartered Engineer along with Fellow of Engineers Ireland by way of Presidential invitation during the Presidency (2019-2020).

Engineers voice Ethical Obligations to tackle Climate Change

According to Engineers Ireland Sustainability Plan 2022-2023, action fourteen in the Advocacy and Regulation section perhaps provides an insight into the motivation for Engineers Ireland to seek membership of the Society for the Environment (SocEnv – Royal Charter 2004, amended 2019). According to the SocEnv website; “As an umbrella body, the Society for the Environment does not directly award the Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv), Registered Environmental Practitioner (REnvP) or Registered Environmental Technician (REnvTech) registrations to professionals. Instead, it licenses professional bodies to award the registration to their appropriately experienced and knowledgeable members”.

SocEnv are a founding supporter of the ‘Professional Bodies Climate Action Charter’, “established to help professionals from across sectors in addressing the key challenge of implementing the Paris Agreement and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Professional bodies are in a unique position to support, educate, influence and lead across sectors”. The Charter seeks three commitments from professional bodies:

Notwithstanding the aforementioned omissions from the Code of Ethics(2023) how is membership of Society for the Environment compatible with some of the other actions by Engineers Ireland? For example:

The observations that are made, of human actions having a consequential impact on the environment continue to be controversial today. Has Engineers Ireland, by some of its actions over the past decade, not highlighted that it may no longer be representative of the voice of the majority of the Engineering profession, when according to the Engineers Ireland ‘Statement of Strategic Intent 2021-2023’:

The only appearance of the word ‘sustainable’ is in the footer tag-line on the cover of this two page Code of Ethics(2023) document. No doubt Engineers Ireland will provide its reasoning for this departure during its launch of World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development on March 4^th 2023, the day which is “an opportunity to celebrate engineering and the contribution of the world’s engineers for a better, sustainable world”.

In the February 2023 Connect newsletter to members, Engineers Ireland, in informing members of the publication of the revised Code of Ethics state:

“As the progressive and trusted voice of the engineering profession in Ireland, we at Engineers Ireland ensure that the competence and ethical standards of our profession are world-class.”

In the words of Healy^[9]: “No one shouted STOP!”

We have!

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^[1]      Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Directive 92/43/EEC – Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora – Article 6(1) – Special areas of conservation – Obligation to establish the necessary conservation measures – General and persistent infringement.

^[2] Vitousek, P. M., et al., “Human Domination of Earth’s Ecosystems” Science, New Series, Vol. 277, No. 5325. (Jul. 25, 1997), pp. 494-499

^[3] Pinchot, G., “The Birth of Conservation”, Keystone Essay in Breaking New Ground (published posthumously, 1947); “Environment | An Interdisciplinary Anthology” Adelson, G., et al. (2008)

^[4] Smith. L. C., “The New North – Our World in 2050”; (2011)

^[5] President’s Report on behalf of Council; Engineers Ireland Annual Report 2005

^[6]      Homan, E., “The Engineer in Society: an exploration of the treatment of ethics in engineering education and practice”; Doctoral Thesis (August 2020)

^[7]      “Galway can’t afford another decade of indecision“; {Pg. 30} Galway Advertiser; 30th January 2020

^[8] “BP scales back climate targets as profits hit record”; Published 7th February 2023

^[9] Healy, J. “No one shouted STOP”; Published 1968