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

Ireland’s Environment – An Integrated Assessment 2020 5. Conclusions Overall, Ireland needs a national policy position for its environment that connects the various environmental challenges and guides the protection of the environment. The overarching message from this report is that change is needed in how we look after our environment. However, economy or society cannot make the right sustainable choices if the systems or policies around them make it difficult to implement measures to protect the environment. Collaboration, integration and better connectivity across the different systems and policies are needed, as many are interlinked. Ireland has many sectoral plans in place with environmental commitments, but the environment continues to be affected and at risk – what we need is implementation, monitoring of plans and projects, and accountability to ensure that plans/ projects are being carried out in the right way, in the right place and at the right time. A national policy position for Ireland’s environment could help to achieve all of this. Research has demonstrated that our health and the state of the environment are intrinsically linked. System changes are needed in the energy, transport and agriculture sectors to improve sustainability and reduce emissions, which are damaging our environment and our health. We need to accelerate the implementation of measures needed to meet climate action commitments. Ireland needs to improve its performance in protecting nature and natural resources at community and national levels. Improvements are also needed in implementing environmental legalisation and policy. Evidence-based policy decisions using assessment tools such as integrated environmental assessment, system- based approaches, spatial planning, the precautionary principle and ecosystem services assessment should play a central part in protecting Ireland’s environment into the future. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals could also be considered when dealing with complex and interlinked environmental challenges. 14 As post-COVID-19 national economic stimulus packages are being developed, now is also a good time to consider opportunities to leverage enduring environmental and public health benefits that address the challenges raised in this report. 14 https://www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/ff4201-17-sustainable- development-goals/ We know that environmental protection is a local issue with global consequences. Ireland’s environment is what connects us to our local places. It is part of our natural heritage and is where we live. When added together, the solutions taken at home, in businesses or at a field level can result in local improvements to global problems. Such local perspectives and community engagement, linked with national policies, leadership and direction, are part of the transition needed to protect Ireland’s environment into the future. Finally, it is useful to reflect again here on the 45 chapter highlights covering thematic, sectoral and integrated areas that have been identified in the report. They outline the scale of the challenges that need solutions. These 45 key chapter highlights are shown in Table 16.3. Stay safe and keep the environment safe. It is our health and environment that matter, and this decade will be pivotal to how we deal with the challenges around protecting both. 448