Clare County Development Plan 2023–2029 (as varied)

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   __________________________________________________________________________________ Clare County Development Plan 2023-2029 1 | Introduction and Vision Regular monitoring of the plan is important, in terms of its relationship with development pressures, varying local priorities and with changes within a wider EU and national policy context, in order for the policies and objectives of the plan to remain effective and relevant throughout the lifetime of the plan. The impact of policies and specific objectives should, wherever possible, be quantified. To provide a quality service, focused on the needs of customers/citizens during the lifetime of the Clare County Development Plan 2023-2029, and in line with the corporate plan, the implementation of the development plan, and its importance in assisting applicants with planning permission, communities, statutory bodies, investors and voluntary groups will be monitored by Clare County Council. It is a requirement under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, for a report to be prepared, two years after the making of the plan, on the progress achieved in securing the objectives of the development plan. This progress report is necessary because, under the Act, it is the duty of the Planning Authority to “take such steps as are in its powers as may be necessary for achieving the objectives of the development plan”. Chapter 20 sets out further details in relation to implementation and monitoring. The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) process requires that monitoring should be carried out to identify, at an early stage, any unforeseen adverse effects due to the implementation of the plan, with the view to taking remedial action where adverse effects have been identified. An environmental monitoring programme has been developed as part of the SEA of the Clare County Development Plan 2023-2029. It is based on environmental indicators which have been developed to highlight changes attributable to the plan and which have been selected to track progress towards achieving strategic environmental objectives and reaching targets, thereby enabling positive and negative impacts on the environment to be measured. 1.10 Office of the Planning Regulator The Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) was established in 2019 and oversees the enhancement of Ireland’s planning system by driving the co-ordination of planning policy implementation across national, regional and local levels, building a stronger knowledge base and ensuring regular reviews of the performance of Planning Authorities and An Bord Pleanála. One of the core functions of the OPR is to independently evaluate and assess statutory development plans and regional strategies, and variations to these, with a view to ensuring that the plan or strategy provides for the proper planning and sustainable development of the area concerned. The OPR may issue a Notice to the Minister recommending that a Ministerial Direction be issued. It is however the role of the Minister to issue any Direction to compel the Planning Authority to address any matter.17

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   __________________________________________________________________________________ Clare County Development Plan 2023-2029 2 | Climate Action Chapter 2 Climate Action Goal I: A county that is resilient to climate change, plans for and adapts to climate change and flood risk, is the national leader in renewable energy generation, facilitates a low carbon future, supports energy efficiency and conservation and enables the decarbonisation of our lifestyles and economy. Chapter 2 Table of Contents: 2.0 Introduction 2.1 Strategic Aims 2.2 Statutory Context 2.3 Policy Context 2.3.1 International Context 2.3.2 European Context 2.3.3 National Context 2.3.4 Regional Context 2.3.5 County Clare 2.4 Climate Change 2.5 Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation and Resilience 2.6 Climate Adaptation Strategy 2.6.1 Local Adaptation Governance and Business Operations 2.6.2 Infrastructure and the Built Environment 2.6.3 Land Use and Development 2.6.4 Drainage and Flood Management 2.6.5 Natural Resources and Cultural Infrastructure 2.6.6 Community Health and Wellbeing 2.7 Climate Action Strategy 2.7.1 Biodiversity 2.7.2 Core Strategy 2.7.3 Decarbonisation Zone 2.7.4 Design and Placemaking 2.7.5 Economic Development 2.7.6 Energy Generation and Use 2.7.7 Residential Development 2.7.8 Resource Management 2.7.9 Settlement Strategy 2.7.10 Transport 2.8 Flood Risk Management 2.8.1 Storm Water Management 2.8.2 Green Infrastructure and Flood Management 2.8.3 Maintenance of Rivers and Waterways 2.9 Energy Decarbonisation, Efficiency and Conservation18

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   __________________________________________________________________________________ Clare County Development Plan 2023-2029 2 | Climate Action 2.9.1 Transition to a Low Carbon Economy and Society 2.9.2 Energy Efficiency and Conservation 2.9.3 Renewable Transport 2.9.4 Community Energy 2.9.5 Renewable Heat 2.9.6 Solar Energy 2.9.7 Bio-Energy 2.9.8 Micro-Generation 2.9.9 Micro Hydroelectric Generation 2.9.10 Ardnacrusha Hydroelectric Power Station19

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   __________________________________________________________________________________ Clare County Development Plan 2023-2029 2 | Climate Action 2.0 Introduction The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2001 glossary defines climate as follows: “Climate in a narrow sense is usually defined as the “average weather,” or more rigorously, as the statistical description in terms of the mean and variability of relevant quantities over a period ranging from months to thousands or millions of years. The classical period is 30 years, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). These quantities are most often surface variables such as temperature, precipitation, and wind. Climate in a wider sense is the state, including a statistical description, of the climate system.” Climate Change and the effects associated with it present major challenges for the county and can result in loss of human life and adverse impacts on the natural and built environments. The expected impacts of climate change in Ireland in the coming years include: • Increasing average temperatures; • More extreme weather conditions including storms and rainfall events; • An increased likelihood of both river and coastal flooding; • Water shortages, particularly in the east of the country; • Changes in the type and distribution of species; • The possible extinction of vulnerable species. The global climate is changing at an accelerated rate and Ireland’s climate continues to warm up in line with global trends. The effects of climate change and global warming and the associated economic, environmental, and social impacts have direct and indirect consequences at the global, national, and local levels and climate change is one of the greatest global challenges of our time. In 2019, Ireland became the second country globally to declare a climate and biodiversity emergency. Extreme weather events in County Clare in recent years such as flooding and storm surges coupled with high winds have required significant responses by the Council and the implementation of major emergency response plans. The National Climate Action Plan 2023 builds on the previous climate action plans and is the first plan to implement economy-wide carbon budgets and sectoral emissions ceilings agreed in July 2022. It focuses on how to achieve the required system change across society and the economy. The plan requires, by 2030, a 75% reduction in electricity sector emissions, 45% reduction in commercial/public buildings emissions, a 40% reduction in residential buildings emissions, 50% reduction in transport sector emissions, 35% reduction in industry emissions and 25% reduction in agricultural emissions. The plan requires a large-scale deployment of renewables and includes an acceleration of the delivery of onshore wind to 9GW, solar energy to 8GW and offshore wind to at least 5GW. In addition, the plan outlines support for at least 500MW of local community-based renewable energy projects and increased levels of micro-generation and small-scale generation. In conjunction with the National Policy Position on Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (2014), the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2019 and the Clare20

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   __________________________________________________________________________________ Clare County Development Plan 2023-2029 2 | Climate Action Climate Change Adaptation Strategy 2019-2024, the development plan sets out the policies and objectives of the Council to mitigate and adapt to climate change in the county. This is complemented through an overarching objective to reduce the carbon output from developments and activities in the plan area. The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 requires the national transition of Ireland to a climate resilient, biodiversity-rich, environmentallysustainable and net-zero emissions country by 2050 and the preparation of climate action plans by each local authority (to be updated every 5 years). 2.1 Strategic Aims This Chapter presents the objectives required in order to implement and to continue to progress new climate actions so as to achieve significant reductions in the carbon output of the county, to manage the risks associated with climate change and to ensure that climate change resilience and adaptation is a priority during the period of the plan and beyond. It is based on the following strategic aims: • To work in coordination with relevant stakeholders to secure the development of low carbon residential and business properties in the plan area; • To ensure that future development is considered and managed having regard to the risk of flooding; • To minimise the level of flood risk to people, businesses, infrastructure, and the environment; • To ensure that the potential effects of climate change are a key consideration in the location and design of new developments; • To ensure that the potential risk of flooding and coastal erosion are fully assessed and taken into consideration in the identification of future development lands in the plan area; and • To take advantage of the economic opportunities that climate adaptation will present (Moneypoint, downstream/supply chain benefits). 2.2 Statutory Context Section 10(2)(n) of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, titled ‘Climate Action’ sets out the statutory provisions for climate change in Ireland. This section relates to mandatory objectives for the promotion of sustainable settlement and transportation strategies in urban and rural areas, including the promotion of measures to: a) Address the necessity of adaptation to climate change;21

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   __________________________________________________________________________________ Clare County Development Plan 2023-2029 2 | Climate Action b) Reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions; c) Reduce energy demand in response to the likelihood of increases in energy and other costs due to long-term decline in non-renewable resources; and d) Gain economic benefits of climate adaptation. Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 requires the transition to a climate resilient, biodiversity-rich, environmentally sustainable and climate neutral economy by 2050. The Act includes the following key elements: • This Act embeds the process of setting binding and ambitious emissions-reductions targets in law; • The Act provides that the first two five-year carbon budgets proposed by the Climate Change Advisory Council should equate to a total reduction of 51% over the period to 2030, relative to a baseline of 2018; • The role of the Climate Change Advisory Council has been strengthened, enabling it to propose carbon budgets to the Minister which match our ambition and international obligations; • The government must adopt carbon budgets that are consistent with the Paris Agreement and other international obligations. All forms of greenhouse gas emissions including biogenic methane will be included in the carbon budgets, and carbon removals will be taken into account in setting budgets;22

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   __________________________________________________________________________________ Clare County Development Plan 2023-2029 2 | Climate Action • The Government will determine, following consultation, how to apply the carbon budget across the relevant sectors, and what each sector will contribute in a given fiveyear period; • Actions for each sector will be detailed in the climate action plan which must be updated annually; • Government Ministers will be responsible for achieving the legally-binding targets for their own sectoral area with each Minister accounting for their performance towards sectoral targets and actions before an Oireachtas Committee each year; • Local Authorities must prepare individual climate action plans which will include both mitigation and adaptation measures and will be updated every five years. Local Authority development plans must be aligned with their climate action plan. 2.3 Policy Context National, Regional and County level climate change policies and objectives in Ireland are informed by and are in accordance with related international and EU level policies which are outlined in the following sections. 2.3.1 International Context United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (1992) The objective of the UNFCCC is to ‘stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system’ and it has the ultimate aim of preventing dangerous human interference with the climate system. Kyoto Protocol (1997) The Kyoto Protocol implements the UNFCCC by committing industrialised countries and economies in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets. It is based on the principle of common responsibilities and acknowledges that individual countries have different capacities in combating climate change owing to varying levels of economic development. Paris Agreement (2015) The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. The Agreement entered its implementation phase in 2020, and in doing so replaced the 1997 Kyoto Protocol as the framework for achievement of the objective of the UNFCCC. It established the following goals: • Hold the global average temperature increase to well below 2°C and pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C;23

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   __________________________________________________________________________________ Clare County Development Plan 2023-2029 2 | Climate Action • Enhance adaptive capacity and foster climate resilience and low-emission development in a manner that does not threaten food production; • Make finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low GHG emissions and climate-resilient development. COP 26 – 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference The UK hosted the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on the 31st of October 2021. The COP26 summit brought parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The two headline outcomes from COP26 were as follows: • Signing of the Glasgow Climate Pact • Agreeing the Paris Rulebook. If the commitments made at Glasgow are fully implemented, warming will be kept below 2oC; and with the commitment to further action over the next decade these efforts will limit the increase to 1.5°C as agreed in Paris in 2015. United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) 2015 The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, which were adopted by all United Nations member states, address the economic, environmental and social challenges that countries must address by 2030 so as to achieve inclusive, people-centred, and sustainable development. There is a recognition within the goals that the ending of poverty (and other deprivations) must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth (all whilst addressing climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests). In particular SDG 13 refers to the need to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.24

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   __________________________________________________________________________________ Clare County Development Plan 2023-2029 2 | Climate Action 2.3.2 European Context EU Adaptation Strategy 2013 This strategy sought to make Europe more climate resilient. By taking a coherent approach and providing for improved coordination, it aimed to enhance the preparedness and capacity of all governance levels to respond to the impacts of climate change. The strategy has been a reference point to prepare Europe for the climate impacts to come, at all levels. EU Green Deal (2020) The European Green Deal is a set of policy initiatives by the European Commission with the overarching aim of making Europe climate neutral in 2050. The initial climate action initiatives under the Green Deal include: • A proposal to introduce European Climate Law to enshrine the 2050 climate-neutrality objective in EU law; • European Climate Pact to engage citizens and all parts of society in climate action; • 2030 Climate Target Plan to further reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% and towards 55% by 2030 (as opposed to 60% by 2050 under the Paris Agreement); • To achieve a Just Transition to the decarbonisation of our industries. The Just Transition approach, which was included in Ireland’s Climate Law enacted in 2021, emphasises a coordinated, long-term, and multi-pronged response involving social partners, industry and Government. In the context of the implementation of climate change response measures in meeting emissions targets and adapting to the negative impacts of climate25

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    __________________________________________________________________________________ Clare County Development Plan 2023-2029 2 | Climate Action change, the Just Transition approach aims to ensure the creation of decent work, greener quality jobs, improving quality of life and better place making. It also aims to ensure that the opportunities associated with moving to a zero-carbon economy are maximised, while minimising negative environmental and socio-economic impacts. Finally in terms of equality, the Just Transition approach is based on fairness, equality, and inclusion, and provides a mechanism by which nobody gets left behind. EU Climate and Energy Framework 2021 to 2030 This Framework includes the following 3 components to enable progress on the mitigation of emissions: 1. The EU Emissions Trading System; 2. The Effort Sharing Regulation; and 3. The Land-use, Land-use Change and Forestry Regulation. Each component covers specific activities which give rise to greenhouse gas emissions and removals. These three pieces of climate legislation are to be updated with a view to implementing the net greenhouse gas emissions reduction target set out in the EU Green Deal. EU Adaptation Strategy 2021 The new strategy sets out how the European Union can adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change and become climate resilient by 2050. The strategy has the following 4 principal objectives: 1. To make adaptation smarter, 2. Faster adaptation, 3. More systematic adaptation, and 4. To step up international action on adaptation to climate change. 2.3.3 National Context Climate Action Plan 2023 The Climate Action Plan 2023 (DECC, 2022) is the second annual update to Ireland’s Climate Action Plan (2019). It builds on the previous climate action plans and is the first plan to implement economy-wide carbon budgets and sectoral emissions ceilings agreed in July 2022. The Climate Action Plan 2023 focuses on how to achieve the required system change across society and the economy. The plan requires, by 2030, a 75% reduction in electricity sector emissions, 45% reduction in commercial/public buildings emissions, a 40% reduction in residential buildings emissions, 50% reduction in transport sector emissions, 35% reduction in industry emissions and 25% reduction in agricultural emissions. The plan requires a largescale deployment of renewables and includes an acceleration of the delivery of onshore wind26

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