Analysis of contemporary climate adaptation policies in Ireland and their application to the coastal zone

Abstract

Global climate change presents a range of impacts on Ireland's economy and society with particular challenges facing coastal areas. The need to adapt to these risks is considered both urgent and essential and the policy framework has evolved to meet these challenges with the adoption of climate action legislation and a National Adaptation Framework (NAF) to facilitate the transition to a climate-resilient economy and society by 2050. This paper briefly reviews the European and Irish government policy context for sectoral climate adaptation before reviewing and classifying the sectoral policy measures introduced to reduce vulnerabilities to climate change impacts. While the analysis reveals that progress has been made by adopting climate action legislation and by developing a suite of climate action focussed plans, it also demonstrates that the policy measures included in the Sectoral Adaptation Plans to reduce climate change vulnerabilities are limited in number and lacking in effectiveness. Furthermore, their application to cross-cutting themes, exemplified by the coast, is inadequate to deal with the practical climate change issues. These findings indicate that Ireland is at a preliminary stage when assessed according to the EU adaptation preparedness scorecard.