EPA finds over '100 key risks' to the State posed by climate change 

The EPA has said the State must take urgent action within the next five years to minimise the risk to our infrastructure from wind and coastal erosion, and flooding Picture: Andy Gibson

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified more than 100 key risks to the State posed by climate change, with extreme wind, coastal erosion, and flooding among the biggest threats, with impacts that can cascade across the economy.

In a major report, it says the State must take urgent action within the next five years to minimise the risk posed to our communications and energy distribution infrastructure by extreme wind, and to minimise the risk to our buildings and transport infrastructure from extreme wind, coastal erosion, and coastal flooding.

It says the State must also prioritise addressing additional significant risks to the built environment and human health from flooding and heat.

These are among the key findings in the National Climate Change Risk Assessment, which is the first comprehensive study of its kind in Ireland.

The study was undertaken by the EPA in collaboration with government departments, State agencies, and other stakeholders to assess where, when, and how climate risks are likely to impact Ireland over the coming decades.

It has identified 115 individual risks from projected changes in climate conditions, of which 43 are deemed significant risks.

The EPA says the significant risks requiring urgent action within the next five years are:

• The risk of disruption and damage to communications and energy distribution infrastructure due to extreme wind;
• The risk of disruption and damage to buildings and transport infrastructure due to extreme wind, coastal erosion, and coastal flooding.

It also identified risks that need to be addressed across a raft of other sectors, including water security, public health, and food production and supply.

EPA director general Laura Burke said we know Ireland is being impacted by climate change already, and this report provides the best available evidence and analysis to inform climate adaptation and resilience measures at a national level.

“Recent events, such as the 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,” she said. 

“Addressing these risks in an integrated and consistent way is key to achieving our national climate resilience objective.”

Eimear Cotter, director of the EPA’s office of evidence and assessment, said this report 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. These must be prioritised in adaptation and resilience actions,” she said. 

This study will support the development of various sectoral adaptation plans by government departments, and guide the development of local authority adaptation plans.

Meanwhile, figures from the Department of Social Protection show there were 93,007 applications registered in respect of 75,733 people, totalling almost €12.8m, for the humanitarian assistance scheme that was opened after extensive damage caused by Storm Éowyn in January.

TG4’s 7LÁ programme found that Galway and Mayo accounted for over half of all the applicants.

Galway had the highest number of applications, with 30,592, Mayo the second highest with 17,303, and Roscommon the third highest with 8,702 applications.

There have been just over 52,600 successful applications for the humanitarian assistance scheme in relation to Storm Éowyn, resulting in payouts of just over €12.8m, with others still under consideration.

Some 22,149 applicants whose claims have been decided but who have not yet been awarded a payment.