Policy information
Adapting to Climate Breakdown
From Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
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Climate change adaptation refers to how we plan for the negative effects of climate change, and take suitable action to prevent or minimise the damage it can cause. Examples of adaptation actions include adjusting building regulations to take account of future climate conditions, building and reinforcing flood defences, or prioritising tree species that are less vulnerable to storms, temperature extremes, and fires. To achieve this level of adaptation, key sectors of government and society, including local and regional bodies, must work together in order to ensure climate adaptation considerations are an integral part of local, regional, and national policy.
The 2018 IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C states that the impacts of human-induced global warming of 1°C are already being felt in the intensity and frequency of some climate and weather extremes. Internationally, climate-related risks to health, livelihoods, food security, water supply, human security, and economic growth are projected to increase with global warming of 1.5°C, and will increase further if warming reaches 2°C. The rate at which the climate is changing is increasing, as highlighted in the high level synthesis report prepared for the UN Climate Summit in New York in September 2019.
Observations show that Ireland’s climate is changing, at a scale and rate consistent with regional and global trends. The most immediate risks to Ireland are mainly those associated with changes in extremes such as floods, precipitation and storms. It is expected that climate change will increasingly impact on Ireland over the coming decades. Climate change could result in:
- Sea level rise
- More intense storms and rainfall events
- Increased likelihood and magnitude of river and coastal flooding
- Water shortages in summer
- Increased risk of new pests and diseases
- Adverse impacts on water quality
- Changes in distribution and phenology (the timing of lifecycle events) of plant and animal species on land and in the oceans
For more information about Ireland’s changing climate see Climate Ireland, Ireland’s climate information platform, which was established with funding from the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC), to provide information and training and to develop capacity across sectors in adapting to climate change.
Ireland's first statutory National Adaptation Framework (NAF) was published by Minister Denis Naughten on 19 January 2018. The NAF was developed under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015. The NAF provides a framework to ensure local authorities, regions, and key sectors can assess the key risks and vulnerabilities of climate change, implement actions to build resilience to climate change, and ensure climate adaptation considerations are mainstreamed into all local, regional, and national policy. The NAF also aims to improve the enabling environment for adaptation through ongoing engagement with civil society, the private sector and the research community. It also builds on the work already carried out under the National Climate Change Adaptation Framework (NCCAF). The NAF will be reviewed at least once every five years.
Complementing national adaptation frameworks or strategies, the European Commission adopted an EU adaptation strategy in April 2013. The strategy supports action by promoting greater coordination and information-sharing between Member States, and by ensuring that adaptation considerations are addressed in all relevant EU policies.
Under the National Adaptation Framework and the Climate Action Plan, seven government departments with responsibility for priority sectors were required to prepare sectoral adaptation plans, in line with the requirements of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015. These plans were developed during 2018 and 2019, and approved by government in October 2019:
Each Plan identifies the key risks faced across the sector and the approach being taken to address these risks and build climate resilience for the future. They were developed applying a six step adaptation planning process described in the Sectoral Planning Guidelines for Climate Change Adaptation, published by DECC.
The plans include actions that:
- Mainstream adaptation into key sectoral plans and policies
- Identify and understand the key vulnerabilities, risks, and opportunities facing specific sectors, as well as major risks cross cutting different sectors
- Ensure climate-proofing of strategic emergency planning
- Identify and collect information on the costs and benefits of adaptation within specific sectors
- Build capacity within sectors to cope with climate change
- Identify and address key research gaps within their sectors
- Improve co-ordination with the local government sector
- Develop appropriate monitoring and verification systems within sectors
The Plans are now in the implementation phase. The National Adaptation Steering Committee was set up to provide coherence in adaptation planning. Its structure was revised under the National Adaptation Framework. Chaired by DECC and with representatives from all the departments leading on the development of adaptation plans, this Committee played a critical role in assisting departments to engage with each other while developing their plans. This Committee now maintains oversight of implementation of actions by the relevant sectors, and facilitates interaction between sectors.
The Climate Action Plan sets out a major programme of change based on 183 actions. The Plan recognises the importance of public sector leadership, and the importance of local authorities. Given their close relationship with the community, local authorities can react faster and more effectively to local climate events than other government agencies. This has been demonstrated in their response to extreme weather events in Ireland over recent years.
The Local Authority Climate Action Charter represents a crucial step for local authorities in responding more widely to the challenges of climate change. Action 147 of the Plan requires that a Climate Action Charter be introduced for every local authority through the use of Ministerial policy directions or equivalent power.
Following a consultation process with the City and County Managers Association, the Climate Action Regional Offices (CAROs) and local authorities, DECC submitted a Local Authority Climate Action Charter to government who approved it on 22 October 2019. The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment signed it along with key local authorities on 29 October 2019, and all local authorities have now signed up to it.
The Charter recognises that a whole-of-government approach is essential in addressing climate change and that central government has a lead role to play in developing policy and ensuring resources are made available to realise Ireland’s climate and sustainability commitments, while local authorities are ideally placed to provide robust leadership in advancing this objective at the local and regional level.
The Charter commits local authorities to actions that will ensure that they play a key leadership role locally and nationally in delivering effective climate action. The actions range across a number of areas including energy use, public procurement and transport. The importance of an ongoing national dialogue on climate change to facilitate climate actions at the local level is also highlighted in the Charter’s actions.
Local authorities have essential local knowledge and have a critical role to play in managing climate risks and vulnerabilities and identifying adaptation actions that will build resilience locally.
Under the National Adaptation Framework and Climate Action Plan 2019, each local authority developed its own adaptation strategy, in line with guidelines developed for the sector. These local authority adaptation strategies were approved by their Councils in 2019. Implementation of these strategies is underway and you can download each of the 31 local authority adaptation strategies from Climate Ireland.
In January 2018, the government established four Climate Action Regional Offices (CAROs) in recognition of the commitment by local government to develop and implement its own climate action measures, as well as the need to build capacity within the sector to respond and adapt to climate change The four CAROs are: Atlantic Seaboard North, Atlantic Seaboard South, Dublin Metropolitan Region, and Eastern and Midlands.
These are operated by a lead local authority in each region (Mayo County Council, Cork County Council, Dublin City Council, and Kildare County Council, respectively), and focus on the predominant risks in each geographical area. The CAROs play an important role in ensuring that cross-sectoral issues are identified and addressed, and in community engagement. They also played a key role in coordinating the development of the local authority adaptation strategies, and ensuring their alignment with sectoral adaptation plans.
