COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, September 12, 2022

QUESTION NO. 16

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

To ask the Chief Executive to present a report on his endeavours to deal with the challenge of Climate Change and will he make a statement.

REPLY: South Dublin County Council is continuing to progress and deliver projects identified in the Climate Change Action Plan 2019-2024. We are currently at the end of the third year of the CCAP and are preparing an annual report to be presented to Council and returned to the Department of Environment, Climate & Communications. In addition to progressing the CCAP, we are working to ensure that our policies and strategies align with the energy efficiency and carbon emissions targets outlined in the national Climate Action Plan 2021 and the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021.
The Plan has been updated to reflect the council's progress and to include revised targets on energy efficiency and carbon emissions.
The Energy Efficiency target has been updated from 33% improvement by 2020, to 50% improvement by 2030. SDCC surpassed the 33% target by the end of 2019.
The target on carbon emissions has been revised from 40% reduction by 2030, to a 50% reduction by 2030 in line with national targets.
The Climate Change Action Plan originally had 130 actions across 5 Action Areas, this has been increased to 154 actions across 6 Action Areas.
From the 154 Actions in the CCAP
• 19 are Complete
• 107 are ongoing
• 4 have not yet started
• 24 new actions have been identified and are being progressed

An outline of the progress on CCAP actions made in 2022 is presented below;

ENERGY & BUILDINGS
• Dublin Regional Energy Masterplan has been completed and is hosted on CoDEMA’s GitHub
• Public Lighting upgrades are ongoing, target for end of year 2022 – 1,700 upgrades to LED
• SDCC County Development Plan has been adopted. Climate Change is fundamental to the plan
• Energy Audits were completed for Tallaght and Clondalkin Leisure Centre as part of progressing Energy Performance Contracts for both facilities
• SDCC Energy Review 2021 preliminary figures indicate a 39.5% improvement in Energy Efficiency over the baseline, this figure has to be confirmed by CoDEMA
• Tallaght District Heating – groundworks are nearing completion. The District Heating facility will be fully commissioned shortly and will reduce CO2 emissions by 1,500 tonnes / annum
• Phase 1,2 & 3 of the programme replacing office lighting with LEDs are complete. An average associated reduction in consumption of 68% has been achieved and a 53 tonnes of CO2 emissions have been avoided.
• The Home Energy Saving Kit scheme is continuing to operate successfully in South Dublin’s Libraries (Lucan, Ballyroan and Tallaght branches). 6 additional kits were received in 2022

TRANSPORT
• A review of fleet and facilities is currently underway, for the purpose of transitioning SDCC fleet to zero carbon alternatives.
• Dublin Regional EV Strategy has been published and actions are being progressed including a trial of EV public charging equipment across the Dublin region.
• Cycle South Dublin – Currently 21 projects are underway. Over €18M was received in allocations for SDCC schemes in 2022
• Over 400 bicycle parking spaces have been provided in 2022, it is expected that 800 will be installed by end of year
• SDCC Active Travel website launched Active Travel - SDCC
• SDCC is continuing to support Bus Connects developments
• SDCC facilitated the installation of an innovative public e-bicycle hire pilot project with ESB.

FLOOD RESILIENCE
• SDCC SuDS Guidance Documents were published including Main guidance documents, Taking in Charge Documents and Householders guide to SuDS
• SDCC Severe Weather and Flood Emergency Plans were updated
• The Strategic Flood Risk Assessment and Hydrological Assessment was completed and used to inform the new County Development Plan
• Integrated Constructed Wetland (ICW) was complete in Griffeen Valley, 2 ICWs are in development in Dodder Valley
• The national Weather Impact REgister (WIRE) App developed by CARO has been trialled by SDCC and is now in use.

NATURE BASED SOLUTIONS
• Workshops on Nature Based Solutions were delivered including SuDS guidance, CDP, Hydromorphological study and Greening Factor.
• Biodiversity Action Plan Complete, Actions are being implemented
• Green Infrastructure Strategy was completed and incorporated into CDP
• Natural play area programme completed
• 2,500 trees will be planted by end of year
• Approx 18,000 trees surveyed in 2022
• Invasive Alien Species video was produced and presented to Parks Supervisory Staff
• Green Roofs in development at Tymon park Intergenerational Centre, and Corkagh Park Pavilions
• SuDS projects implemented at Tymon park and Lucan demesne

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
• Waste Enforcement officers carrying out inspections and warning/enforcement notices
• Promote the Stop Food Waste messages across our social media channels. SDCC support the EPAs campaigns including Summer Food Waste campaign.
• EPA Stop Food Waste will be at Climate Festival in Tymon Park as part DCAW
• Fast Fashion documentary produced with the other Dublin Local Authorities supported by the Climate Innovation Fund
• Arthurstown Landfill - solar array was suggested for the landfill to cover the base load. Additional 5MW commercial array is being assessed
• Investigating Anaerobic Digestor as an environmentally friendlier solution to disposing of grass cutting

New actions identified:

• Developing a Register of opportunities for Greening Tallaght Stadium
• Progression of the DeliveREE project with partners CoDEMA
• Procurement of Energy Audits on County Hall, Clondalkin Office
• Develop Implementation Plans for Clondalkin and Tallaght Decarbonising Zones
• Align the objectives of Clondalkin Decarbonising Zones with the LAP
• Develop Dublin Regional Air Quality Plan (Completed)
• Interim Urban Traffic Related Air Pollution (UTRAP) Report (Completed)
• Participate in an Taisce’s Clean Air Together pilot project
• Support School Streets projects (Safe Routes to Schools)
• Support WeCount/I-Change Air quality monitoring project
• Support South Dublin Sports Partnership on community active travel projects
• Include/Support active travel options for travelling for Work
• Implement actions from the Biodiversity Action Plan
• Carry out wetland surveys of lakes and ponds in South Dublin
• Investigate sustainable solutions to the management of grass cuttings
• Investigate option to replace fossil fuelled hand tools with battery powered alternatives
• Provide Climate Awareness training for all staff
• Establish Green Procurement working group
• Develop SDCC Climate Change website
• Produce Climate Action newsletters
• Support the SEAI Sustainable Energy Communities project
• Support GAA Green Clubs project
• Support/Participate with DLAs Climate Action Awareness Campaign Climate Action Week
• Support local schools and universities on Climate Change awareness projects and studies

Decarbonising Zones:
In February 2021 the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage issued a circular on Decarbonising Zones to enable Ireland to meet its EU targets of reducing carbon emissions by 30% between 2021 and 2030, and thereafter to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Action 165 of the National Climate Action Plan requires identification of one location or area in each local authority that would be subject to a plan for a Decarbonising Zone.
Each LA was required to identify a DZ by 30th, April, 2021 with a broad outline of the main projects that could be implementable in the zone plus an indication as to potential outcomes deliverable in terms of reductions in carbon emissions. At a minimum, these outcomes were to be capable of meeting the Government’s targets for carbon emissions reductions set out below, specifically an average 7% per annum reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions from 2021 to 2030 (a 51% reduction over the decade).
Decarbonising zones should, subsequent to initial baseline analysis and stakeholder mapping, set the chosen zones on a path to achieving the greenhouse gas emissions reductions required by Government by the year 2030.
SDCC submitted a proposal including Clondalkin and Tallaght as proposed Decarbonising Zones to the DHLGH. 
The 4 DLAs engaged CoDEMA to develop Decarbonising Zone Implementation Plans. This project has commenced and by Q.1 2023 we expect to have an initial draft which will include
• Establish Baseline Data
• Project potential increases in CO2 emissions
• Gap to Target Analysis
• Register of Opportunities
• Cost Estimates

Dublin Climate Action Week (#DCAW22):
A range of events will be delivered throughout the week from 12th to 17th September. A guide to the events and online registration has been officially launched and is available at www.dublinclimateactionweek.ie.

The programme of events includes a mix of in-person and online events and presents a range of climate themes including energy, transport, flood resilience, nature-based solutions, resource management and citizen engagement.
From family-oriented biodiversity walks and business events to pop-up shops and climate festivals the programme is full of useful solution focussed events which will inform the people of Dublin on the actions their local authorities are taking and what they can do themselves to address climate change.
The week is being organised and delivered by the partnership of South Dublin County Council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council, Codema – Dublin’s Energy Agency and the Dublin Climate Action Regional Office (CARO).
The overall vision of Dublin Climate Action Week 2022 is – ‘to highlight Dublin’s climate action progress to its citizens and demonstrate the leadership role of the four local authorities in conjunction with other partners’.

The agreed shared objectives of the initiative are:
• Demonstrate progress on the implementation of the four Dublin local authority Climate Change Action Plans, and a regional approach to climate action;
• Engage with a full range of partners to share knowledge on efforts and innovation across sectors;
• Make climate action a ‘reality’ allowing citizens to see what climate action looks like;
• Promote this initiative to fully engage with EU and international cities and our climate peers; and
• Create a legacy so that this initiative can carry forward to subsequent years in a variety of ways.
The DCAW22 Programme Promotional Video can be viewed at: https://buff.ly/3Avr5Ua

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.

Climate Action Newsletter
The Climate Change Newsletter is published throughout the year, each issue focussing on a different theme from the CCAP.
Our social media hashtag (#SDCCClimateAction) is being used on all South Dublin County Council climate action social media posts.

Climate Action Website
The SDCC Climate Action website was officially launched in 2022. The website provides citizens direct access to the Climate Change Action Plan and it’s actions. The website also provides information and resources to citizens on current Climate Action projects and events.