The report warns that these failings mean that Ireland risks not meeting its 2030 climate targets, seen as a crucial period for keeping global average temperatures below 1.5C. An international think tank had already predicted that Ireland would fail to meet its 2030 targets.
The implementation gap
There are several crucial actions needed but not yet implemented on climate action highlighted by the report from the Climate Change Advisory Council. The report says: “There has frequently been a gap between climate rhetoric and delivery in Ireland and this must end.” The gaps are many and include:
A failure to meet the 2020 greenhouse gas reduction targets of 20 per cent under the EU Effort Sharing Decision. This means it will have to purchase emissions allowances from other member states.
The delay of many measures in the 2019 Climate Action Plan. The report cites the transport and heating sectors as being of particular concern.
Timeliness of implementation measures were also mentioned in relation to the Climate Action Delivery Board, whose role is to hold each department and public body accountable for the delivery of actions set out in the Climate Action Plan. This board didn’t meet in 2020 despite a commitment to convene every three months.
The National Adaptation Framework, with the ambition of delivering climate resilience is not “adequately considered or represented” in a range of policies and initiatives, according to the report.
The Annual Transition Statement for 2020 is not yet published.
The National Coastal Change Management Strategy, which was expected to be published in the first three months of 2021, is still not out.
Ireland itself is overdue on its reporting to the EU’s Long-Term Strategy, which requires each member state to submit to it by 1 January, 2020.
Gap between climate action planning and implementation
The Climate Change Advisory Council warns that the failings of government to act mean that critical targets could be missed. It emphasises that there must be a shift from planning to acting on climate change and the reduction of emissions.
“A significant gap remains between the ambition of the National Adaptation Framework to deliver climate resilience, and its implementation,” according to the report.
The report says these implementation gaps “underline the importance of a continued and deepening focus on climate governance in Ireland and the need to further institutionalise implementation, monitoring and evaluation of climate action.”
The Climate Action Plan, published in November, needs to be fully implemented and acted upon in a timely manner, the report says. Of course, implementation is made more difficult by the amount of climate change related reports that are overdue.
Chairperson of the Climate Change Advisory Committee, Marie Donnelly said that the time lag between policy development, implementation and the emissions' reduction means that Ireland will not meet its climate targets unless something changes. She added that the implementation of carbon budgets in future years “will be unachievable, if this pattern within Irish climate policy is not overcome.”
Areas and sectors that need more attention
The report highlights several areas and sectors where more action is needed on climate change adaptation.
In its first ever adaptation scorecard, which assessed Ireland’s progress on adaptation across different sectors, the Council was unable to give the highest score to any sector.
Communications networks and health received the lowest rating. And the report says that the council is particularly concerned that the communications network did not engage with its assessment process. The electricity and gas networks showed only limited progress.
“The lack of a systemic, cross sectoral economic and financial approach is a barrier to effective decision making and opens the door to fragmentation and a conflict for resources. There are few, if any, other areas where such a situation involving potentially several hundred million euro would be allowed to continue,” the report says.