Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

16 Executive Summary Protecting the environment to protect our health Creating healthy places free from environmental hazards is key to creating a healthier and fairer society in which everyone can thrive. There is substantial evidence of the positive impact of engaging with nature and our environment. On the other hand, harmful exposures including air, water, radiation and noise pollution can have substantial negative impacts on our health and wellbeing. The impacts of environmental hazards and exposures are not equal across society. Identifying and increasing the visibility of environmental exposure and inequalities at a local scale will be key to informing policies to address health and environment. The impacts of our environment on our health, both positive and negative are, in the main, modifiable (i.e. they can be changed) and addressing harmful exposures (such as radon, air pollution, noise and water pollution) will have a substantially beneficial impact on our health. Addressing these risks by reducing pollution, adapting to and mitigating climate impacts, and restoring ecosystems means that people can be healthier and live longer. Conclusion This assessment of the state of Ireland’s environment shows that the challenges facing it are closely linked and interrelated. Our understanding of these issues is greater than ever before, underpinned by comprehensive monitoring systems, evidence and research. While some welcome progress is being made on climate action, we are still well off track in meeting our 2030 targets. Critically this level of delivery is not evident across other areas of the environment. We need to build momentum towards delivering on not only climate but also our biodiversity, water, circular economy and pollution reduction goals. Delivering on these goals will require transformational change in many of the core systems of our society and will involve everyone. The immense value of Ireland’s environment cannot be taken for granted. Societal progress will be severely hampered if our actions continue to damage this essential asset on which we all depend for our air, water, food and resources. A clean and healthy environment will deliver economic and health benefits and improve the resilience of our environment to the shocks that will inevitably come from climate change. There are substantial benefits in us acting now: it will reduce the overall cost to our society, deliver many new employment opportunities, provide more plentiful access to clean, renewable energy and afford us a healthy environment that we can enjoy. For us as individuals and as a society, our task now is to address the challenges set out in this report so that the next generation does not have to. We have much to do, but by acting now we can make good in providing a healthy, clean and resilient environment for ourselves and for future generations.