COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, July 10, 2023

QUESTION NO.23

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

To ask the CEO to give details of his consultations with outside bodies and groups in respect of his Climate Action Programme and will he make a statement?

REPLY:

South Dublin County Council’s Climate Action Team regularly work with stakeholders across South Dublin to highlight the work we are doing. We aim to inform the citizens of South Dublin of actions they can take at home, in the community and in work to reduce their impact on the climate.

Work has commenced on the Climate Action Plan 2024-29 as it is a Statutory Requirement for LAs under the Climate Action and Low Carbon (Amendment) Act 2021.

The plan, which will be ambitious in its targets, is considering actions where the local authority can influence, co-ordinate//facilitate and advocate for climate action in wider society.

While early engagement with the Elected Members and SPC Members took place in June to facilitate discussion on SDCC’s new Climate Action Plan, the statutory Public Engagement Process is scheduled to take place for up to 8 weeks in September – November 2023. The Climate Action Team are currently working on a comprehensive Communications Plan which will be delivered during the Public Engagement Process.

Specific workshops and engagement days are regularly delivered to communities, community groups, colleges and schools to build climate engagement throughout the year.

In 2023 we have worked directly with a range of organisations across the county:

 The Climate Action Team attend the Community Services Fun Day in the Square Tallaght.

We engage with the business community through the Local Enterprise Office and the South Dublin Chamber of Commerce.

Furthering citizen engagement, the Council recently appointed a Community Climate Action Officer (in June), to work with communities in South Dublin to distribute the new Community Climate Action Fund, worth €1,073,000 over three years. This fund is crucial to activate climate action outside of the direct control of the Council to address the wider emissions profile in the county. The fund will be launched in South Dublin in 2023.

Furthermore stakeholders can use our dedicated climate action website, www.southdublinclimate.ie, to keep up to date on our climate actions and latest news. Citizen engagement via the website is complemented by a quarterly citizens climate newsletter, which details current Council climate action on a specific, rotating thematic area. The Climate Team works with the Communications Unit to promote our website news articles and newsletters via our social channels.