Ireland’s Issues with Climate Action

By News Reporter David Twomey

October 2023 “smashed” the previous record for the month’s global temperature, and 2023 is on track to be the hottest year on record. With Ireland falling severely short of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2021 goals, and the Climate Action Plan 2023 (CAP23) targets already projected to not be met by a significant margin, the Irish public’s belief in the Government’s climate action has waned. According to an Ireland Thinks poll, 46 per cent of people do not think that the government is doing enough regarding the climate crisis. The public’s desire for improvements in hitting key targets is warranted and may be a key issue for voters in the 2025 General Elections.

CAP23 directs policy in maintaining Ireland’s emissions within the mandatory carbon budget, while decreasing emissions by 51 per cent by 2030. In regard to this legally binding target, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Ireland’s reduction will be nearly 57 per cent short “unless all sectors of the economy deliver sustainable emission reductions in the short term”, a pipe-dream for any environmentalists. EPA also state that the first two carbon budgets will be missed “by a considerable margin’. A recent positive step for climate action, despite not rescinding the Government’s failure to reach targets, was the announcement of the “Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund”, with €2 billion annual funding planned. See the article Budget 2024: Ireland’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Announcement Aims to Capitalise on “Leprechaun Economics” for details of the planned fund. Yet the near definite failure to reach these targets will result in heavy fines and litigation risks. Most importantly for the Irish public, the Climate Change Advisory Council (the Government’s independent climate advisory body) warns it will cause Ireland to be “ill-prepared for the domestic implications of climate change”. Although climate change often sounds like implications for the far-future, the Government’s meagre application of CAP23 is already having destructive consequences for the economy, communities, and the public’s safety. With October’s Storm Debi causing severe damage throughout Ireland, the water resources area of CAP23 is a worrying example of the implication of failure in climate policy.

Waste-Water Treatment

Waste-water treatment is a highly important issue for the health and safety of the Irish population and environment which rarely gains attention: Ireland is yet to fulfil its obligations in the Urban Waste-Water Treatment Directive. This came into force over 30 years ago.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in 2022 waste-water treatment (which includes sewage) in 15 large urban areas failed to meet the EU standards. 55 per cent of all Irish waste-water collected in the country’s large urban areas “was produced in the 15 areas that failed the standards”. This is an increase from 12 areas in 2021, exposing the worsening situation. Notably, six of these 15 areas were in Cork, with Cork City, Rathcormac, Mitchelstown, Courtmacsherry, Clonakilty and Skibbereen all failing to reach EU treatment standards. Other areas in Cork (Ballycotton, Whitegate-Aghada and Castletownshend) were three of the 26 Irish areas in 2023 which discharge raw sewage, an incredibly unsafe practice for both the environment and locals. These regressing changes require immediate action and offer no short-term fixes; according to the EPA, “It will take a multi-billion investment to bring all treatment systems up to standard and at least two decades to complete this work”. Yet state-owned Uisce Éireann has completed only 61 per cent of the near 1,000 improvements due in 2022. Nearly 350 of these are over three years overdue, with over one-third being in “priority areas”.

In their report, EPA also detailed the large-scale underdevelopment of storm water overflow structures. Perhaps the most visible effect of climate change in Ireland currently is flooding, after Storm Debi resulted in 70,000 people losing power and unprecedented flooding in the likes of Middleton and Youghal. Cork County Council’s Chief Executive Valerie O’Sullivan stated that they were “as prepared as any agency could possibly have been for this unprecedented rainfall event”, with the council completing checks on drains pre-storm in all high-risk areas. However, in 2021 Uisce Éireann assessed that over 400 of its 1,735 storm water overflow structures failed to meet national standards, requiring immediate improvements. Uisce Éireann proceeded to not do a single assessment in 2022. These failures have received little publication despite the shocking results of Storm Debi. Though local authorities are proving that they have done everything in their power to alleviate towns from the disastrous flooding which has increased at an alarming rate, state-owned utility companies are failing in their operational duties with disastrous effects for communities in Cork and throughout Ireland. CAP23 includes “The Water Resource and Flood Risk Management Adaption Plan” to improve water treatment and “flood attenuation”, yet the continuing systemic lack of investment in water facilities will only accentuate the damage of record rainfall.

Climate Action: Perspectives in Ireland

Although the Irish population do not believe that the current Coalition Government is doing enough regarding climate action, 26 per cent believe that the response is “too much, too fast”. The agricultural sector, holding 7.4 per cent of national employment, has continued to rescind many climate-related action. On 9 November, the EU approved legislation for countries to have to establish restoration measures on at least 30 per cent of drained peatlands by 2030 and scale up re-wetting to restore damaged ecosystems in Europe. Although voluntary for farmers and not coming into force until being adopted by the European Parliament and Council, this legislation contains massive risk for the Irish agricultural sector in a country where 85% of the original peatland has been drained and converted over time. The Irish Farmer’s Association warned the EU states of ‘walking blindly into these targets without fully understanding the consequences.’ Balancing positive climate action with agricultural performance is a potential oxymoron in Irish policy, and this debate highlights the active complexity of climate action support in Ireland.

Although Ireland is severely underperforming at a national/Government level, some of Ireland’s leading companies and institutions have spearheaded the drive for sustainability and climate action. A notable example in Cork is University College Cork (UCC), recently being named as the “Global Sustainability Institution of the Year” at the International Green Gown Awards. These awards are endorsed by the UN Environment Program, and the achievement is reflective of UCC’s long-held central focus on sustainability: in 2010 it became the first university globally awarded a green flag from the Foundation for Environmental Education. The University’s 2030 Sustainability and Climate Action Roadmap aims to continue delivering world-leading change: at a total estimated cost of €39.55 million (partly funded through grants), the strategy includes a 71 per cent improvement in energy efficiency through solar PV instillations and retrofitting a minimum of three buildings on campus to accomplish net neutrality.

UCC also strives to “communicate climate action and sustainability awareness throughout the UCC community and beyond” through its Green Campus program; chaired by the Student Union’s Deputy President, it educates students through the likes of carbon literacy courses and policies such as a single-use plastic free campus have been integral to the University’s climate-active environment and accolades in sustainability. UCC’s demonstration of world-leading performance in climate action shows both the private drive for sustainability in Ireland and the prestige and long-term improvements which are possible through positive action.

Political Implications of Climate Action

With two-thirds of Ireland now more worried about climate change than two years ago and nearly half believing the Coalition Government isn’t doing enough regarding the crisis, this issue is a potential swing factor in the upcoming 2025 General Elections if anyone can capitalise on it. Only 28 per cent of Ireland’s 18–34-year-olds agreeing that the Government is doing enough to protect the environment (WIN International study). For the current Coalition Government, attracting eco-conscious young voters while maintaining their dominance in agricultural Ireland poses a difficult predicament. Sinn Féin’s lack of commitment to a key issue in their largest voter base would seem unwise; yet party leader Mary Lou MacDonald scored lowest in a public poll’s gauge on party leader’s prioritisation of climate change. A potential drive in her commitment to the influential cause may be an important addition pre-election, and her recent statements of an Irish “energy revolution” at Sinn Fein’s Ard Fheis seem to be the beginning of her attempt to do so.

Yet for the time being, anyone’s promises of climate action will not suffice; the lack of adequate development in this area is curtailing Ireland’s potential growth while accentuating the negative effects in high-risk areas. The Government’s woeful attempt of reaching CAP23 targets have increasingly damaging and dangerous results for the Irish population as climate catastrophes continue to increase in regularity.