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

Chapter 8: The Marine Environment Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Ireland needs to adapt and plan for the risks of floods, storms and erosion in coastal areas and their impact on communities. The Climate Change Advisory Council, 32 an independent advisory body tasked with reviewing national climate policy, has outlined the need to consider coastal issues relating to climate change, such as erosion, in sectoral adaptation plans (CCAC, 2019). The National Adaptation Framework (DCCAE, 2018) acknowledges that ‘the most immediate risks to Ireland which can be influenced by climate change are predominantly those associated with changes in extremes, such as floods, precipitation and storms’ . This is extremely relevant to the coastal and marine environment. Managing the response to climate change requires mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions, nature-based solutions, emergency planning and long-term adaptation solutions. In the case of coastal erosion, regional flood hazard mapping, assessment and strategy formulation have been carried out under the Irish Coastal Protection Strategy Study (ICPSS). This study considered the current level of hazard and projected future climate change scenarios. Guidelines on coastal erosion risk management allow for assessment of a range of potential solutions that may be required in response to climate change, including ‘hold-the-line’, managed realignment and managed retreat (see Topic Box 8.3). 32 http://www.climatecouncil.ie/ The 2019 Agriculture, Forest and Seafood Climate Change Sectoral Adaptation Plan (DAFM, 2019b) aims to build resilience to the effects of climate change and weather- related events in the agriculture, forestry and seafood sector. Through case studies it outlines the possible implications of, and the steps required to build resilience to, increases in harmful algal blooms, shifts in fish stock distributions, increases in ocean acidification and shifts in the composition of plankton communities (including copepods and jellyfish). It is hoped that these steps will allow Ireland to plan effective and anticipatory adaptive responses to the impacts of the changing climate. The plan also makes the link between biodiversity, climate change and fish stocks, recognising an increase in the numbers of warm water marine fish species in Irish waters and increased sightings of exotic fish. In 2019, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht also published the Biodiversity Climate Change Sectoral Adaptation Plan (DCHG, 2019), which includes a number of actions relevant to the marine area. 211