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Ireland’s Environment 2012
4
Introduction
This State of the Environment report
by the EPA,
Ireland’s Environment
2012
, presents the most recent
information on the quality of Ireland’s
environment. The report provides
an outline of the socio-economic
developments that have impacts and
consequences for the environment,
together with thematic assessments
focusing on key trends, challenges
and actions for climate change, air,
water, waste, nature, and land and
soil. The final section of the report
provides a more in-depth integrated
assessment of Ireland’s environment
within a broad socio-economic
context, looking in particular at the
environment and economy and the
environment and health themes, and
identifying the future challenges for
Ireland’s environment.
There are complex linkages
between the environment and
human activities. Changes to the
environment can be fully appreciated
only in the context of the activities
and the driving forces that give rise
to them. As such, actions aimed at
environmental improvement must
also recognise and understand these
linkages. To highlight this ‘cause
and effect’ chain, the report uses
the
D
riving force–
P
ressure–
S
tate–
I
mpact–
R
esponse (DPSIR) framework
as follows:
n
D
riving Force
– Socio-economic
and socio-cultural forces driving
human activities, which increase
or mitigate pressures on the
environment, e.g. demographics,
economics
n
P
ressure
– Stresses that
human activities place on the
environment, e.g. emissions to
air, land and water
n
S
tate
– The current state of the
environment
n
I
mpact
– Effects of environmental
degradation, e.g. biodiversity loss,
economic damage
n
R
esponse
– Responses by society
to the environmental situation,
e.g. legislation, policy and
science.
The EPA produces a state of the
environment report every four years.
Ireland’s Environment 2012
is the
fifth such report; previous reports
were produced in 2008, 2004,
2000 and 1996. The EPA has also
published environmental indicator
reports in the middle of this four-
year cycle, to provide a mid-term
assessment of Ireland’s environment.
In 2010, the EPA developed a web-
based indicators resource to facilitate
access to key national indicators on
the environment in Ireland. This state
of the environment report is closely
linked to the online resource (www.
epa.ie/irelandsenvironment), where
data and assessments on Ireland’s
environment are regularly updated.
State of environment reports
and environmental indicators are
important tools to provide up-to-date
data, knowledge and assessments
to assist policy and decision makers,
across all sectors of the economy,
to manage and protect the
environmental assets of the State.
Ireland is not unique in producing
such reports – the majority of the
other members of the European
Union produce similar environmental
assessments and/or indicators. The
European Environment Agency (EEA)
also produces periodic reports on
the state of Europe’s environment,
the most recent being
The European
Environment – State and Outlook
2010
(EEA, 2010). Following the
same DPSIR assessment framework,
the EEA concluded that global
demands for natural resources to
feed, clothe, house and transport
people are accelerating. These
mounting demands on natural
capital are exerting increased
pressure on ecosystems, economies
and social cohesion in Europe and
elsewhere. A complete shift to a
resource-efficient green economy
requires that all environmental
resources be fully considered in
production, consumption and global
trade decisions. Other key findings of
the assessment include the following.
n
Climate change:
The European
Union has made progress in cutting
emissions and expanding renewable
energy. However, sectoral trends
are not all positive. EU-27
emissions from transport rose by
24% between 1990 and 2008
n
Climate change adaptation:
Even
if Europe meets all its emission
reduction targets, it will still
need to adapt to ongoing and
expected climate change impacts
n
Biodiversity, ecosystems and
people’s health:
The Natura
2000 network of protected areas
has helped protect endangered
species. However, intensification
of land use, loss of habitats and
overfishing has prevented the EU
from meeting its target of halting
biodiversity loss by 2010
n
Integrated solutions with a global
perspective:
Integrated actions
across different policy areas
can help deal with the pressing
challenges, so as to deliver
improvements more quickly and
maximise co-benefits (e.g. mitigate
climate change and improve air
quality at the same time)
n
Resource efficiency:
Accounting
and pricing that takes full account
of resource use impacts are
essential for steering business and
consumers towards enhanced
resource efficiency
n
Citizen involvement:
Policy
alone cannot halt or reverse
environmental trends. Europe
needs to increase the number of
citizens committed to reducing
their impact on the environment
by involving them in collecting
data and through social media.