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

Ireland’s Environment – An Integrated Assessment 2020 Chapter Highlights for Introduction The absence of an overarching national environmental policy position is negatively affecting integration and progress across multiple environmentally related strategies, plans and programmes: the sum of the parts do not make up a coherent whole. As Ireland emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and looks to stimulate economic recovery, it needs to apply a ‘green investment’ approach and avoid lock-in, or a return to carbon- intensive consumption and unstainable production behaviours, services and technologies. A clean environment provides the opportunity to deliver on health and economic dividends that will assist resilience and support recovery. Protection of our waters, air, soil, ecosystems and biodiversity should not just be an ambition driven by altruism, as these systems and species provide essential supporting services for our wellbeing and our economy. The delivery of trusted and actionable knowledge about our environment is essential to allow Ireland to plan with any degree of certainty for a better future. 30