COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, September 13, 2021

QUESTION NO.19

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

To ask the Chief Executive if he shares the worldwide concerns following the recent publication of the UN report on Climate Change and will he present an updated report on the Council's response to the crisis and make a statement?

REPLY:

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published the first report of AR6 on the 9th August 2021. This is the first of four reports by different working groups which when combined, will complete the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report.

The final report is expected to be published in 2022 and will contain the following suite of documents;

1. AR6 Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis (August 2021)
2. AR6 Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (February 2022)
3. AR6 Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change (March 2022)
4. AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2022 (September 2022)

The report was prepared by a Working Group (WGI) with contributions from 234 scientists from 66 countries. The 3,949 page report containing thirteen chapters was approved by 195 governments including Ireland.
WGI focused on the consensus of the climate science behind the cause and effects of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. The report included additional detail on the regional effects of climate change and narrows the range of probable temperature rises to between 1.5 °C and 5 °C, with 1.5 °C rise likely to be reached before 2040. The outcomes of the rise in temperature will include sea level rises of between 0.5 and 1.0 metres by 2100  and an increase in extreme weather events and compound effects.
The reports warns that it is only possible to avoid warming of 1.5°C or 2.0°C if massive and immediate cuts in greenhouse gas emissions are made.

South Dublin County Council will continue to progress the actions outlined in the Climate Change Action Plan 2019-2024, however, our goals on energy efficiency improvements and carbon reduction will be updated to reflect our success on achieving our initial energy efficiency goal and updated legislation on carbon reductions.
Our current targets on climate action are;
• A 50% improvement in the Council’s energy efficiency by 2030 (revised from 33% by 2020)
• A 51% reduction in the Council’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and carbon zero by 2050 (revised from 40% reduction by 2020) in line with the national Climate Action Plan 2019 targets legislated for in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021.
• Make Dublin a climate resilient region by reducing the impacts of future climate change related events.
• Actively engage and inform our citizens on climate change.

Many of actions presented in the CCAP relate to SDCC’s operations and our plans to decarbonise the Council's fleet and buildings and to improve the efficiency of our public lighting infrastructure by replacing incandescent bulbs with LEDs. Phase 1 of the replacement programme (2014-2020) has been completed. 9,689 SOX lighting units have been replaced with more efficient LEDs. Phase 2 of the programme is underway and SDCC plan to replace a further 1,500 units in 2021. The energy performance of public lighting has improved by 34.5% since the baseline. This represents and absolute reduction of 9.8GWh of primary energy and 3,450 tonnes of CO2.

The Tallaght District Heating Scheme is Ireland’s first large scale district heating project and is being spearheaded by South Dublin County Council. The scheme will also operate as Ireland’s first not-for-profit utility and will make a significant contribution to reducing carbon emissions in the area, with annual saving of almost 1,500 tonnes of CO2. The project, includes an underground network of highly insulated pipes that transfer low carbon heat from an energy source to buildings that have connected to the system, providing hot water and space heating. The nearby Amazon data centre will provide the initial source of heat on the network, however, the scheme can accommodate additional, alternative, energy sources. Phase one of the Tallaght District Heating Scheme connects South Dublin County Council’s office buildings and the TU Dublin-Tallaght campus. During normal operation, the heat demand will be fully covered from heat generated at the data centre. Subsequent phases of the project will facilitate the connection of other public, private and residential customers in the Tallaght area including new residential developments.
Decarbonising Zone
Under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment Bill) 2021, each Local Authority was required to submit to the DHLGH by April 30th a potential area suitable as a decarbonising zone, (i.e. to implement a range of measures to reduce carbon by a minimum of 51% by 2030).
The next steps include;
• Work with energy agency (CoDEMA) to review the Spatial Energy Demand Analysis;
• Define the DZ boundaries
• Develop a baseline for Carbon emissions
• Identify the key stakeholders
• Identify funding sources
• Identify Carbon reducing measures in each Decarbonising Zone
• Prepare an implementation plan to be submitted to DHLGH and to form part of our Climate Change Action Plan
Sustainable Energy Communities
SDCC support the Sustainable Energy Community programme run by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). South Dublin County Council is working with Sustineo, the appointed mentor for communities in South Dublin and Codema, Dublin’s Energy Agency to facilitate and support homeowners, sports clubs, community centres, local businesses and churches transition to Sustainable Energy Communities.
SDCC has agreed to provide bridging finance to communities to develop their Energy Masterplans. The cost will be recouped from the SEAI.
South Dublin County Council has also committed to providing financial support for sustainable energy projects identified in Energy Masterplans and deemed beneficial to communities under the SDCC Climate Innovation Fund.
Benefits of joining an SEC
• Lower Energy Bills
• Make homes and community buildings more comfortable
• Boost local employment opportunities
• Build community energy knowledge, confidence and capacity through experience
• Become a leader in sustainable energy and do your bit for the planet
There are currently 8 Sustainable Energy Communities in South Dublin, including groups that have already initiated projects and groups who are at an early stage in developing their objectives.

Public Lighting Upgrades
Phase 1 of the 55 W SOX replacement programme (2014-2020) has been completed. 9,689 SOX lighting units have been replaced with more efficient LEDs. Phase 2 of the programme is now underway and SDCC plan to replace 1,500 units in 2021. The energy performance of public lighting has improved by 34.5% since the baseline. This represents and absolute reduction of 9.8GWh of primary energy and 3,450 tonnes of CO2 (SDCC 2019 Energy review). Public lighting upgrades will be also included as potential works in our Decarbonising Zones.

Office Lighting Upgrade
Phase 1 of retrofitting LEDs in County Hall has been completed with a calculated annual saving of 37 tonnes of Carbon emissions.
Phase 2 of the replacement of office lighting with Energy Efficient LEDs is also complete with additional annual reductions in energy consumption of 40,189 Kwh and GHG emissions of 13.3 tonnes.
Phase 3 of the project is complete and phase 4 is currently being quantified.
The total annual reduction in CO2 emissions to date is 53 tonnes.

Energy Elephant
With funding from the Climate Innovation Fund, SDCC have initiated a 2-year pilot project with Energy Elephant. Energy Elephant are in the process of setting up an energy use monitoring system across all of the Councils facilities. This process will facilitate reporting M&R to SEAI and prove useful for identifying areas where additional improvements and savings can be made. It will be a benefit to SDCC when we move towards acquiring ISO 50,001 certification.
Active Travel Team
An active travel admin team has recently been established to work with and support a technical team of engineers working on a range very exciting active travel projects over the coming years including Cycle South Dublin. The team will provide support on finance, communications, admin, as well as delivering their own projects such as free cycle parking for Schools/Sports clubs and an active travel website.
Cycle South Dublin
The Programme of works to progress 260km of new and improved cycle lanes across the county was approved at South Dublin County Council April meeting. The ‘Cycle South Dublin’ programme includes 63 projects to deliver a 260km space for both cycling and walking - an increase of nearly 50km from a programme that was publicly consulted on in late 2020.
The timeline of the project has been revised to a delivery within 8 years. The original project timeframe was 10 years.
The project will be funded with support from the NTA and the Department of Transport. The NTA has committed to increase the council’s active travel fund from €8.9m in 2020 to €20.7m for 2021.
Flood Alleviation Schemes
Whitechurch - Leave for a Judicial Review has been granted to the Ballyboden Tidy Towns Group. The Court date is scheduled for 5th October 2021.
Poddle – The anticipated date for decision by An Bord Pleanala has been extended to 24rd September, 2021.
Camac - Stage 1 Preliminary Design is ongoing. CCTV surveying of culverts and Hydraulic Modelling are close to completion.

Strategic Flood Risk Assessment
Consultants have been engaged to carry out Strategic Flood Risk Assessments (SFRA) for all Local Area Plans, SDZs and Development Plans. The SFRA is currently being prepared by Roughan O’Donovan for the County Development Plan. The SFRA includes a hydrogeomorphological study to provide rational for a review of riperian buffer areas. The draft SFRA will inform relevant policies in the CE Draft CDP.

SuDS Guidance Documents and Training
South Dublin County Council are developing a SuDS Explanatory, Design and Evaluation Guide in accordance with international best practice, emerging international guidance, SDCC’s County Development plan objectives and under target action areas detailed in SDCC’s Climate Change Action Plan 2019-2024. The Guidance document will be an “easy to follow” document to explain and promote best practice Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) to architects, engineers, developers and local authority stakeholders involved with developments within the county of South Dublin.

Pollinator bulb planting project
As part of our commitment to meet the objectives set out in our Climate Change Action Plan, our Biodiversity Plan and our Pollinator Action Plan, SDCC planted 290,000 bulbs throughout the county in autumn 2020. 85% of the bulb mix are pollinator friendly species. Daffodils are interplanted with pollinator friendly bulbs such as Tulips, Cammasia & Alliums to define the locations of the pollinator bulbs and reduce the likelihood of mowing the spring bulbs as they emerge in April/May. Daffodil planting also allows long grass, wildflowers/dandelions, etc to grow, which act as habitat hubs, food sources & ecological corridors for bees and other pollinators.
Bulbs were planted at the following locations;
Location 1: Junction of Kennelsfort Road Upper & R148
Location 2: Cloverhill/Fonthill Road beside Greenford estate
Location 3: Adamstown Link Road roundabout
Location 4: roundabout on N81 between new landscape works and wilder area at top of bank
Location 5: Spawell Roundabout and raised bank off R137 between Spawell Roundabout and graveyard
Location 6: Wide verge alongside junction of R112 and R137 at Templeogue Village
Location 7: Two Killinniny Road Roundabouts

SDCC manages over 1,500 hectares of parks and open spaces and have been implementing a decreased mowing regime over the past number of years. SDCC is establishing grassland management regimes which will help to establish habitats for wildlife and nesting birds. SDCC currently manage 136 Ha of Pollinator friendly meadows. SDCC have also signed up to the National Pollinator Plan, and are implementing actions in correlation with the SDCC Biodiversity Action Plan.

South Dublin County Council and the Local Enterprise Office South Dublin are aiming to work with businesses in the county to reduce their environmental impact and become more sustainable. A virtual information webinar was held on the 31st March 2021 to present details on the project and how local businesses can participate. Ten businesses will be able to apply for onsite environmental reviews and grants are available to businesses who carry out improvements highlighted in the review.

Climate Action Communications Strategy
The Climate Change Team has developed a Communications Strategy to document and promote the Council’s numerous actions being carried out through day-to-day work and the Climate Change Action Plan. The Communications strategy will inform elected members and members of the public of ongoing Climate Action related works and upcoming events.

The first edition of the Climate Change Newsletter was published in January 2021 focussing on energy. The second edition was published in May and with a focus on Transport.
Our social media hashtag (#SDCCClimateAction) is now being used on all South Dublin County Council climate action social media posts.

A SDCC Climate Action website is currently in development. The website will provide citizens direct access to the Climate Change Action Plan and it’s actions. The website will provide information and resources to citizens on current Climate Action projects and events. A web design company (PTools) has been engaged to deliver the website and provide training.

Climate Action Week
The first Dublin Climate Action Week (DCAW21) will take place between Monday 13th and Sunday 19th September 2021.
South Dublin County Council together with the other 3 Dublin Local Authorities, the Dublin Climate Action Regional Office (CARO) and Dublin’s Energy Agency Codema have come together to organise a great programme of online and physical events to showcase the Dublin region’s climate action progress, demonstrate the leadership role of the four Dublin Local Authorities and inspire action.
Registration is now open for events taking place during Dublin Climate Action Week.
Dublin Climate Action Week 2021 | Climate Change Events Dublin (codema.ie)

Climate Action Awareness Training
Under action 150 of The National Climate Action Plan a Local Authority Climate Action Training Programme is being delivered to all 29,000 Local Authority staff and elected members. The course is split into 3 modules, each 45-90min in duration. The training is mandatory to all staff and aims to increase knowledge, understanding and awareness of global climate change and the context for Ireland, for Local Authorities and for our citizens.
Limerick Institute of Technology have been appointed by the LASNTG to deliver the training programme to elected members and senior staff, including Chief Executives, Directors of Services, Senior Executive Officers, Senior Engineers/Planners and equivalent. Training for SDCC elected members and senior staff has been scheduled for 5th November 2021.

County Development Plan 2022-2028
South Dublin County Council is currently drafting the next iteration of County Development Plan. The draft Plan is currently on public display at Draft South Dublin County Development Plan 2022 - 2028 | South Dublin County Council's Online Consultation Portal (sdublincoco.ie) where the public are invited to make submissions. Climate Change is at the core of the new plan and all strategies contained within the plan will have Climate Change as a critical theme.