COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, December 12, 2022

QUESTION NO.23

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

To ask the Chief Executive if he has studied the final report from the Cop 27 Climate Summit and if the findings inform further actions he plans in respect of the Council's response to the crisis and will he make a statement? 

REPLY:

COP27, held in Sharm el-Sheikh from the 6th to the 20th November, reaffirmed the outcomes of the Paris Agreement 2015 and previous conferences, and the need for Climate Action.  The resulting implementation plan stressed the science and the urgency for action. It addressed a number of areas: Enhancing ambition and implementation; Energy; Mitigation; Adaptation; Loss and Damage; Early Warning and systematic observation; Implementation – pathways to just transition; Finance; Technology transfer and deployment; Capacity-building; Taking Stock; Ocean; Forest; Agriculture; and Enhancing implementation: action by non-Party stakeholders.

The goals of the Paris Agreement were translated into European Climate Law, and subsequently climate policy in Ireland. The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act, 2021, states the National Climate Objective and sets out Ireland’s legally binding target to deliver a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030, with a trajectory of achieving climate neutrality by the end of 2050.

SDCC work to these EU and National Climate Action targets and guidelines, under which SDCC have a Climate Change Action Plan 2019-2024 (CCAP) comprising of 154 actions aligned to these targets. DECC recently issued draft 'Local Authority Climate Action Guidelines' aimed at ensuring that a coherent and consistent approach to climate action planning is adopted by Local Authorities. Under these guidelines, the process to review the SDCC CCAP will begin in 2023, with a statutory plan to be adopted by March 2024.

Actions or targets agreed by the Irish Government at the COP27 summit are likely to be incorporated into national guidance, if not already included, and communicated to the Climate Action Regional Offices (CAROs) and Local Authorities.