25th British-Irish Council Summit held in London

27 November 2015

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Rt Hon Theresa Villiers MP, hosted the twenty-fifth Summit meeting of the British-Irish Council in London today. The meeting took place at Lancaster House and was attended by Heads of Administration and Ministers from the eight BIC Member Administrations: the Irish Government; the devolved administrations of the Scottish and Welsh Governments and Northern Ireland Executive; and the Governments of the Isle of Man, Guernsey, Jersey.

The Council discussed economic developments across the Member Administrations and reflected on the latest data on youth employment. The Council also considered the activities of the twelve BIC work sectors since the last Summit and the positive achievements. Members agreed various principles to reinforce the work of these sectors and further agreed that the two subgroups within the BIC Energy workstream would merge (see Communique for further details). 

Finally, the Council considered a paper prepared by the BIC Environment work sector which focused on Natural Capital and resources, including a case study on pollinators. The Council affirmed the importance of collaboration on this matter, discussed the role of a natural capital framework and agreed to work together to further their collective understanding of Natural Capital and its benefits. This Environment work sector paper can be read here.

Read the Summit Communiqué here.

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