EPA - Ireland's Environment, An Integrated Assessment - 2020

Executive Summary CURRENT ASSESSMENT: Summary assessment of current environmental performance, policy and implementation in Ireland Very poor/significant environmental and/or compliance challenges to address Poor/environmental and/or compliance challenges to address Moderate/on track generally/local or occasional challenges Good/mainly achieving objectives Very good/fully achieving objectives OUTLOOK: Current prospect of meeting policy objectives and/or targets Largely not on track to meet policy objectives and targets. Significant challenges remain to achieving full compliance. Systemic and transformative change needed. Partially on track to achieving full compliance or measures in place or planned that will improve the situation. However, the outlook is dependent on existing and planned actions, measures and plans being fully implemented and effective. Largely on track to achieving full compliance. Measures in place provide prospect of meeting policy objectives and targets. In the report there are also many positive areas to highlight as well. Since the first of the series of Ireland’s state of the environment reports was published in 1996, many examples of environmental improvement have been recorded. These include successes in the areas of industrial regulation and emissions, waste management and wastewater discharges. Ireland has a well-funded research programme and the findings from this research are covered in many chapters of this report. There are now many new national and community-level initiatives that are aimed at improving the environment and meeting legislative requirements. These initiatives include the new climate plans, climate dialogue, citizens’ assembly, warmer home schemes, river basin management plans, work on sustainability and food waste, and nature conservation projects covered by the European Innovation Partnership for Agriculture Productivity and Sustainability. Key Messages for Ireland on the State of the Environment in 2020 The overall assessment from this state of the environment report, Ireland’s Environment – An Integrated Assessment 2020 , shows that not only is there a need for urgent approaches to address climate change and biodiversity decline but also there are other environmental priorities for Ireland. These include tackling water pollution, investing in water services, improving recycling rates, improving air quality and mitigating radiological risks. In addition, we must also step back from intensive agricultural and land use practices that are affecting or posing threats to the environment and human health. The assessment indicates that we need much better approaches around managing conflicting land uses and practices in order to protect the environment. For example, we need to leave space for nature, maintain setback spaces along rivers to protect water quality, consider nature-based solutions for flood mitigation, promote areas best suited to high nature value farming and areas of bog that should be left and restored as spaces for carbon storage and nature. The overall key messages identified for Ireland’s Environment are summarised in Figure 1. Further details about these messages can be found in Chapter 16. 17