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Environmental Challenges and Priorities
143
challenge given the limited public
finances for investment in transport
infrastructure.
Marine Environment
The protection of Ireland’s marine
environment is an emerging issue,
both from the scientific and from the
policy perspective. Ireland needs to
move forward with concerted actions
to meet its EU obligations under the
Marine Strategy Framework Directive
2008/56/EC, which requires an
integrated assessment of the quality
of our marine environment.
Some of the pressing issues in the
area of the marine environment
are the loss of marine biodiversity,
marine litter, the risks from
overfishing and acidification.
Acidification of oceanic waters is
an emerging threat to the marine
environment (Ní Longphuirt et al.,
2010). The world’s oceans have
absorbed more than a third of net
CO
2
emissions since the industrial
revolution resulting in a decrease
in the pH of the ocean (Sabine et
al., 2004). Ocean acidification is
increasing at a rate which is one
hundred times faster than any
previous change for millions of
years, with the greatest pH effects
occurring at high latitudes. This
may limit the habitable depth for
calcifying organisms, such as cold-
water corals, which are found in
deeper offshore waters to the west
of Ireland. In addition, commercial
shellfish and the species and
ecosystems which underpin and
provide habitats for commercial
fisheries are at risk. While the rate of
ocean acidification can be predicted
with a high degree of certainty, the
ecological consequences are less
certain and the potential impacts are
only just beginning to emerge. The
extent of the impact on the marine
ecosystem will depend on the ability
of species to adapt to this rapid
change.
A Sustainable Ireland
In 2005, the UN Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment concluded
that over the past half-century
“humans have changed
ecosystems more rapidly
and extensively than in any
comparable period of time in
human history, largely to meet
rapidly growing demands for
food, fresh water, timber, fibre,
and fuel”
(MEA, 2005).
This rapid growth places stresses
on the environment and if not
managed and controlled, these
stresses can overwhelm the
ecosystem and damage the natural
resources it provides. Sustainable
Development is a term used to
describe efforts to transform
the way that society approaches
growth and the attendant pressure
on the environment. Perhaps the
most frequently cited definition of
sustainable development is the so-
called
Brundtland Definition
(WCED,
1987):
“Sustainable development is
development that meets the
needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own
needs.”
Over the last thirty years, the concept
of sustainable development has
come to be recognised as a central
principle of good governance and
public policy at local, national and
international levels. At a global
level, the United Nations has taken
a strong interest in Sustainable
Development since the 1992
Conference on Environment and
Development in Rio de Janeiro. At
a European level, there are several
policies and strategies looking at
how the EU can be made more
sustainable in the future. One of
the most important of these is the
Europe 2020 strategy which aims
to build a low-carbon knowledge
economy in Europe.