Government approves Sectoral Plans to protect against the impacts of climate change
- Foilsithe:
- An t-eolas is déanaí:
New adaptation plans target flooding, storms, and infrastructure risks across communities and industry
The government has approved 13 Sectoral Adaptation Plans (SAPs) to support resilience, competitiveness and economic growth in the face of severe climate change impacts.
The Programme for Government commits to supporting communities, ecosystems, and businesses as climate risks continue to rise. The climate change adaptation measures outlined in these plans show how key sectors are preparing not only for the impacts we are already facing but also those that will worsen into the future because of climate change.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said:
"Ireland is, and will continue to play, its part in tackling climate change. The science is clear and failure to act is a risk too great for our people, our society and our economy. This means progressing our work to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years, while also adapting to the increasing impacts of climate change in our communities. Risks from climate change are faced by all of us, by all parts of society and all parts of the economy. More severe storm damage, flooding, drought and coastal erosion threaten our homes, businesses and infrastructure. We must continue to build climate resilience. Adapting to the escalating impacts of climate change is a central focus for us all."
Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O'Brien, who brought the plans to government on behalf of sectoral Ministers, said:
"Over the last few years, we have all seen the increase in the frequency and the intensity of storms including Storm Babet, Storm Darragh and Storm Éowyn. Many of us have been significantly impacted by the effects of these storms through flooding, power cuts and breakdowns in communications systems. The plans that government approved today set out the actions and measures that will be taken over the next few years and the adaptation objectives over the longer term to ensure that Ireland's society, infrastructure, economy, and competitiveness are resilient to the impacts of climate change."
Each SAP has been developed in cooperation with other sectors utilising Met Éireann climate data. The SAPs, informed by the National Climate Change Risk Assessment, identify the key risks faced across the sectors and the approach being taken to address these risks and build climate resilience for the future.
The implementation of the actions in the SAPs is the responsibility of each sectoral Minister. However, to provide for regular scrutiny and monitoring of adaptation actions at the highest level of government, an adaptation Taskforce is being established by the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment (DCEE).
The Taskforce will be chaired at Assistant Secretary level and will provide for more regular and formalised senior-level consideration in addressing cross-cutting issues and transboundary risks and efforts to address them in a more holistic way. It will enable escalation where barriers or delays are identified.
The SAPs can be viewed on DCEE's website.
ENDS
Notes to the Editor
The 13 key sectors are: Agriculture, Forestry, Seafood, Biodiversity, Built and Archaeological Heritage, Transport Infrastructure, Electricity and Gas Networks, Communications Networks, Flood Risk Management, Water Quality, Water Services Infrastructure, Health, and for the first time: Tourism.
Each plan will be published by the relevant Minister over the coming weeks and queries on individual sectoral plans should be directed to:
- Electricity and Gas Networks – Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment – Press.Office@DCEE.gov.ie
- Biodiversity, Water Quality and Water Services Infrastructure, Built and Archaeological Heritage – Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage – press@housing.gov.ie
- Agriculture, Forestry and Seafood – Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine – press@agriculture.gov.ie
- Flood Risk Management – Office of Public Works – pressoffice@opw.ie
- Health – Department of Health – press_office@health.gov.ie
- Transport infrastructure – Department of Transport – Press.Office@transport.gov.ie
- Communications Networks – Department of Culture, Communications and Sport – press.office@ccs.gov.ie
- Tourism and Employment – Department of Enterprise, Tourism, and Employment – press.office@enterprise.gov.ie
Evident impacts of climate change
The impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly more evident with severe damage observed during Storms Bert and Darragh in late 2024, Storm Éowyn in January 2025, and Storm Amy in October. Attribution studies are showing that climate change is adding significantly to the strength of the extreme events that we are experiencing in Ireland.
Recent findings by Met Éireann
Climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, with warmer offshore waters and increased levels of moisture in the atmosphere exacerbating storms. Irish rainfall patterns are expected to further change, with an increase in both dry periods and heavy rainfall events. There is high confidence that maximum rainfall rates will increase due to the warmer atmosphere carrying more moisture. Overall, Ireland is expected to continue to get warmer and wetter into the future. The impacts to Ireland’s population, infrastructure, economy, and agriculture at varying degrees of global warming are explored further as part of Met Éireann's TRANSLATE Programme. Adapting to this new reality and building resilience to the impacts of climate change is critical.
Government response
The government is committed to protecting Ireland's present and future generations by investing in climate adaptation measures to manage the impacts of extreme weather events. There is a need to support communities, ecosystems, and businesses as climate risks continue to rise. Insufficient climate change adaptation measures and a lack of climate change resilience undermine competitiveness and economic growth. Successful adaptation will support competitiveness and economic growth.
Requirement for SAPs under the NAF
The Climate and Low Carbon Development Acts 2015-2021 (the Climate Act) require that Ireland prepares a National Adaptation Framework (NAF) to set out the potential implications of climate change for Ireland and outline the national strategy for the development of adaptation measures.
Last year the government approved Ireland's second NAF. The NAF establishes a set of key principles to be used when planning for and implementing adaptation actions aimed at reducing vulnerabilities, enhancing resilience, and safeguarding communities, sectors, regions, ecosystems, and economies against the adverse impacts of climate change. The NAF recognises the importance of continually strengthening the national adaptation response in line with developments made in assessing risk, new research, and reducing impacts over time across key sectors.
In June 2025 the EPA published Ireland's first National Climate Change Risk Assessment (NCCRA), a key deliverable under the NAF. The NCCRA is a significant piece of work that will support our understanding of the risks of climate change and will help the government to prioritise action and direct resources to counter the risks that are most urgent now and into the future. The NCCRA supported the development of the SAPs. DCEE led on the National coordination of sectoral adaptation actions so that cross-cutting issues are identified and addressed.
What the SAPs are and what they will do
The SAPs set out what effective adaptation actions and measures will be taken over the next few years and outline adaptation objectives over the longer term to ensure that Ireland's society, infrastructure, economy, and competitiveness are resilient to the impacts of climate change.
All sectoral adaptation plans utilised the results of the NCCRA and followed sectoral adaptation planning guidelines published in August 2024 to ensure a consistent approach. Sectors undertook a sectoral risk assessment, prioritised actions, and considered cross-cutting impacts.
Implementation
With the SAPs recently published, sectors have now entered the implementation phase of the sectoral adaptation planning cycle.