The Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) of Ireland has issued a firm warning that without government intervention, Irish residents are likely to experience increasing vulnerability to severe weather conditions due to ongoing climate disruption.
The council’s most recent report, published Tuesday, emphasizes that Ireland is already dealing with negative consequences of climate change, with grave issues like costal erosion and high-scale flooding posing immediate dangers.
The CCAC is urgently calling for the completion and execution of the much-needed coastal management plan. This plan aims to boost resilience in coastal communities, that are currently under threat from several elements including coastal deterioration and sea level rise.
It is recommended by the CCAC that yearly budgets should be protected and allocated by government departments and State agencies for the development of plans for adaptation at the sectoral level.
The council underscores the fact that climate change is not just a futuristic threat – it’s already impacting society with harmful implications. Notably, the global temperature has consistently been over 1.5 degrees above pre-Industrial Revolution times for an entire year, marking the first occasion since records began.
Key instances of climate change effect in Ireland were cited in the report, including last autumn’s disruptive flooding in Midleton, the particularly wet Winter and Spring, and the marine heatwave off the country’s shores in Summer 2023, all of which underline the increasingly detrimental effects of climate change on individuals and various sectors. These effects pose growing threats to lives and livelihoods.
The report suggests emissions of greenhouse gases historically and in the present are linked directly to events like the Midleton floods and the wet seasons.
The CCAC calls for no let-up in striving for climate neutrality by reducing emissions and highlights that it’s equally crucial to urgently develop and implement measures to adapt to Ireland’s changing climate.
As stated by the CCAC adaptation committee’s chairperson, Prof Peter Thorne, while Ireland should contribute fully towards the global target of achieving climate neutrality, dealing with climatic changes and fortifying resilience are responsibilities the country must handle independently.
As per a focal aim of all governments to safeguard its citizens, immediate and sizeable actions need to be taken to enhance our robustness against existing and anticipated climatic alterations, insisted a council member.
The council drew attention to the recently issued National Adaptation Framework – a tentative guide for executing adaptive measures – which, however, requires financing and execution to prevent recurring distressing episodes like last year’s incident in Midleton. The council’s suggestions highlighted the necessity for different Government departments, municipal bodies and semi-official agencies to coherently perform their tasks.
“Active development of fresh sectoral adaptation blueprints provides the chance for a major shift in our goals,” articulated Professor Thorne. “To buttress this, we need to develop and effectively maintain technical proficiency in all sectors, covering municipal governance, coupled with a definite plan for staffing and training by the end of 2025.”
“Proactive execution of adaptive measures will aid in bracing up for swiftly rising threats domestically, as well as strengthen our capacity to weather overseas risks, such as those to commerce or food resources, that can potentially affect us. This will undeniably necessitate substantial initial investments, but are likely to be cost-saving in the long-run as well as bring about numerous other benefits,” continued Professor Thorne.
He also highlighted that Ireland, along with most countries, lags considerably in planning and allocating resources for necessary steps to bolster our resilience to persistent climate change. “Ensuring our citizens are protected from the mounting peril of climate fluctuations will be a critical onus for governments in the coming decades. Hence, major and continuous resource allocation for climate adaptation measures needs to be prioritised,” Professor Thorne concluded.