In Ireland, there is a portfolio of policies, plans, strategies and reports that address directly and indirectly the consequences of climate change and emergency planning. However, emergency management and climate change adaptation are currently two discrete systems for governance, management and coordination at the national level. There is no nationally-shared understanding of what constitutes ‘risk’ and ‘resilience’ to short, medium, and long term change, and how best to develop an integrated and holistic approach to both the long term climate change adaptation needs and the more immediate emergency risk management needs.
This presentation will provide an overview of the findings of a report published in August 2022 by the Irish Environmental Protection Agency entitled: “Integrating Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk in the Irish Emergency Planning System”. The report identifies how existing approaches to disaster risk reduction, disaster risk management and climate change adaptation in Ireland are juxtaposed, and concludes that identifying ways to promote coordination and to align incentives, priorities and planning processes will facilitate a more holistic and comprehensive approach to disaster risk management at all levels of government. Drawing on the Horizon 2020 ESPREssO project, the report provides a high-level roadmap of guiding principles and a series of priority actions that the government and other stakeholders may wish to consider for achieving greater coherence and integration between the emergency management and climate adaptation frameworks in Ireland.