Irish people will become more vulnerable to extreme weather events unless the Government implements measures to increase resilience in the face of inevitable climate disruption, the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) has said.
In its latest report on adaptation measures, published on Tuesday, the council says Ireland is already being adversely affected by climate impacts with extreme flooding and coastal threats the most immediate risk.
Finalisation and implementation of the long-awaited coastal management plan, with the aim of building resilience in coastal areas and communities, “needs urgent delivery” to address the twin threats of sea level rise and coastal erosion, it says.
Government departments and State agencies should lead on the development of sectoral adaptation plans with ring-fenced annual budgets, it recommends.
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Climate change “is no longer solely a future problem, the CCAC adds, it is already adversely impacting society”. Since its last assessment, global temperatures have exceeded 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial times for 12 straight months for the first time since records began.
“In Ireland we have seen notable extreme events including the flooding in Midleton last autumn, the extremely wet winter and spring, and the marine heatwave around our shores in summer 2023,” the report adds. “These highlight our changing climate is already negatively affecting citizens and key sectors, with ever increasing threats to both lives and livelihoods.”
The Midleton flooding and wet winter and spring are linked “to our historical and ongoing emissions of greenhouse gases in rapid attribution studies”, the independent advisory body says.
While the country needs to relentlessly pursue climate neutrality by forcing down emissions, Ireland must also “develop and deliver measures to adapt to our changing climate with the same urgency”.
Prof Peter Thorne, CCAC adaptation committee chairman, said: “We must fully play our part in the wider global commitment to achieve climate neutrality. However, ensuring we adapt to and are resilient to the changes in our climate is an area that we alone are responsible for.”
Given the core mission of any government is to protect citizens, “it is way past time to start taking concrete steps at speed and scale to increase our resilience to the impacts of current and future climate changes”, he added.
The council said the new National Adaptation Framework provided an indicative roadmap of how adaptation could be done but needed to be financed and implemented “if we are to avoid repeated heartbreaking events such as those from Midleton last year”.
The council’s recommendations underline the need for Government departments, local authorities and semi-State agencies to provide a consistent approach to delivery of actions.
“New sectoral adaptation plans currently under development offer an opportunity for a step-change in ambition,” Prof Thorne said. “To support this, we need to build and better retain technical capacity across all sectors, including local government, with a clear programme for staff resourcing and training by the end of 2025.
“The delivery of proactive adaptation actions will help us to prepare for rapidly emerging risks at home and support our ability to be resilient to risks abroad that may impact us such as to trade or food supply. While this requires substantial initial investment, over time this will ultimately save money and offer numerous co-benefits.”
Prof Thorne said Ireland, like most countries, remains “well behind the curve in terms of planning for and resourcing the necessary actions to ensure our resilience to ongoing climate change”.
“It will be critical for governments for decades to come to prioritise climate change adaptation measures, with substantial and sustained resourcing, to protect our citizens from the increasing threat of climate change.”
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