There are 43 significant and immediate climate risks to Ireland, according to the first national risk assessment of the consequences of global warming.
They range across all major sectors of the economy, but risk is highest in energy, transport, communications, water security and food production.
Climate impacts in one sector, especially linked to critical infrastructure, “has the potential to cascade and impact on other systems”, the assessment warns.
It highlights recent storms, Éowyn and Darragh, where electricity, water supply and communications were disrupted simultaneously due to power outages that quickly escalated across regions.
Published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday, the assessment also analyses broader societal risks to public health and the country’s biodiversity and ecosystems.
It identifies and ranks 115 risks arising from climate change that is already happening, stating what should be responded to first.
The most significant risks, which require action within the next five years, involves damage to communications and energy distribution infrastructure. The damage is likely to be caused by extreme wind.
Separately, there is heightened risk of disruption and damage to buildings and transport infrastructure “due to extreme wind, coastal erosion and coastal flooding”.
Buildings and transport infrastructure concentrated in coastal areas in the Dublin region, the South East and parts of the South West are particularly exposed to coastal erosion and coastal flooding.
We know Ireland is being impacted by climate change already
— Laura Burke
Additional risks that should be prioritised for further investigation in the next five years include the built environment and human health from flooding and prolonged heat, with older people particularly vulnerable.
The assessment is designed to provide the Government, businesses and communities with the best available evidence to inform climate adaptation.
It was undertaken with Government departments, State agencies and other stakeholders to assess where, when and how climate risks are likely to materialise.
The assessment will guide development of sectoral adaptation plans, where key actions are set out and further investigation of threats are carried out by key government departments.
“We know Ireland is being impacted by climate change already,” said EPA director general Laura Burke. “This comprehensive assessment highlights the need for additional urgent action to ensure Ireland is sustainably resilient to risks that we currently face, and will increasingly experience, in coming decades.
“[It] clearly shows how risks cascade across sectors. Recent events, such as Storms Darragh and Éowyn, demonstrated how damage to critical infrastructure such as energy, water supply, transport and communications networks in turn give rise to impacts on human health, biodiversity and the financial system.”
Addressing these risks in an integrated and consistent way will be key to achieving “climate resilience” for the entire country, Ms Burke said.
Assessing climate risk is a key component of risk management and strategic planning, said Dr Eimear Cotter, director of the EPA Office of Evidence and Assessment.
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“The assessment underscores the need for immediate action in the next five years to enhance the resilience of Ireland’s critical infrastructure to climate change. The risks with the most consequential and highest urgency ratings relate to extreme wind, coastal erosion and coastal flooding,” she said.
Dr Cotter added that the findings must ensure adaptation planning in Ireland “is appropriately integrated across sectors”.
The assessment does not focus on environmental pressures, such as pollution, habitat destruction or population growth. However, “these pressures will be increasingly compounded by climate impacts as time goes on”.
The report is available on the EPA website and the Climate Ireland adaptation portal.
