Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

437 Chapter 16: Environmental Policy Implementation and Performance Environmental Policy Implementation and Performance 1. Introduction Ireland has an extensive and expanding suite of legislation and policies to safeguard the natural environment and protect human health. This includes laws, policies, plans and guidelines covering air and water quality, climate change adaptation and mitigation, protection of biodiversity, circular economy and waste management, noise pollution and land use planning. In a review of Ireland’s environmental performance in 2021, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) noted that climate, circular economy and biodiversity policies have gained renewed impetus in Ireland, with various ambitious and well- designed policy initiatives and large public investment plans now in place. However, it also noted that these policies need to be swiftly implemented to alleviate the growing pressures from intensification of agricultural practices, population growth, urban sprawl and road traffic (OECD, 2021a). Ireland’s strong population and economic growth in recent years is placing increased pressure on critical infrastructure, including water, energy, waste and transport services as well as the housing supply. The latest population projections undertaken by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), which are being used to inform the first statutory revision of the National Planning Framework, indicate that Ireland’s population will reach 5.7 million by 2030, a decade sooner than was anticipated when the National Planning Framework was developed in 2018, and will reach 6.1 million by 2040 (Bergin and Egan, 2024). This chapter presents a high-level overview of Ireland’s performance in implementing global, European Union (EU) and national environmental policy and legislation. It highlights a number of key implementation gaps and shortcomings where Ireland has failed to adequately implement environmental policy and legislation, drawing on the findings of the European Commission’s latest Environmental Implementation Review (EIR) for Ireland (EC, 2022) and the OECD’s Environmental Performance Review of Ireland (OECD, 2021a). These implementation shortfalls, and the priority actions recommended to address them, are discussed in this chapter. Lastly, some enabling factors that support successful implementation are outlined. Ireland’s environmental legislation and policy landscape Much of Ireland’s environmental legislation stems from European directives and regulations. As a result of implementing EU and national legislation and policies over the last 30 years, Ireland has made significant strides in environmental protection. Since the 1990s, the Integrated Pollution Control and Industrial Emissions licensing systems have placed controls on emissions to air, water and land from specified industrial and agricultural activities. Bans on smoky coal have resulted in improved air quality in cities and towns. The progressive increase in the landfill tax has contributed to the diversion of waste from landfill, while the introduction of segregated waste collection has facilitated recycling and composting waste. With increased recognition of the interlinked nature of many environmental problems, the policy focus in recent years has moved towards more integrated policy frameworks with a long-term societal transition perspective. The European Green Deal, published at the end of 2019, represents the EU’s far-reaching policy response to the triple planetary crisis facing Europe – climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution – and sets out a roadmap for achieving a climate-neutral continent by 2050 (EC, 2019). In turn, Ireland’s environmental policy landscape has evolved in response to EU and international policy developments. Figure 16.1 lists some of the current key legislation, policies and plans in place in Ireland that address water and air quality, waste and the circular economy, nature protection, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The remainder of this chapter assesses how well Ireland is performing in implementing these and the outlook for it achieving its policy objectives and targets.