Dublin City Development Plan 2022–2028 – Volume 1: Written Statement (as varied by Variations Nos. 1–11)

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   Core Strategy | Chapter 2 71 PAGE LEFT INTENTIONALLY BLANK

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   Climate Action | Chapter 3 72 Chapter 3: Climate Action

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   Climate Action | Chapter 3 73 3.1 Introduction Background Climate change is one of the most pressing global challenges facing this, and future generations. Climate change can be defined as the alterations to climate directly or indirectly attributed to human activities, which release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases (GHGs), namely carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrogen oxide (NOx), accumulate and prevent heat energy from leaving the Earth, resulting in what is referred to as the greenhouse effect. While global mean temperatures caused by GHG emissions have been increasing since the industrial revolution, the rate at which temperatures are increasing has doubled since the mid-1980s and, in 2018, the accumulation of greenhouse gases was at a new record high of 457 parts per million (ppm) CO2 equivalent (compared with 330 ppm in 1970 and 286 ppm in 1870). The expression of increased concentrations of GHGs is experienced as changes in average weather or climate change impacts. These include: extreme weather events; sea level rise; flooding; coastal erosion; drought; increased rainfall; and extreme temperatures. None of these events occurs in isolation, but rather as compound events with cascading impacts that have direct and indirect impacts on the environment, society and the economy. If we continue to do nothing, levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide will continue to increase, average temperatures will continue to rise and the climate will become more volatile. Climate Change and Dublin City As acknowledged in the Dublin City Council Climate Action Plan (CCAP) (2019-2024), the effects of climate change are already impacting Dublin City at a significant rate and are very likely to increase in their frequency and intensity. For example, the average sea level in Dublin Bay has risen by nearly twice the global average. In the last 20 years, the number of days with heavy rainfall has also increased as have the amount of extreme flooding events in Dublin in the last 10 years. Dublin City has also experienced temperature extremes, such as in 2018 when Met Éireann issued its first ever Status Red warning for snow in February, followed by one of the hottest summers on record during June and July of the same year. With over 15% of the country’s population living within Dublin City Council’s administrative area, the council will be active in influencing and enabling the changes to allow for the city to play its role in transitioning to a low-carbon society in a just and equitable way.

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   Climate Action | Chapter 3 74 Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building climate resilience can also create cobenefits including cleaner air, health benefits and more energy efficient buildings. This in turn will have positive benefits for residents, businesses and visitors alike. There are also economic opportunities to be realised in tackling climate change through innovative and technological solutions such as renewable energy, sensor technologies and ‘Smart City’ solutions such as those being trialled by Smart Dublin. Mitigation and Adaptation Climate change can be addressed by two primary complementary responses, namely, mitigation and adaptation. As defined by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UN IPCC): ▪ mitigation is a human intervention to reduce the sources, or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases; and ▪ adaptation is the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects. In human systems, adaptation seeks to moderate or avoid harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. In some natural systems, human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate and its effects. Figure 3-1: Examples of Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Measures Source: Eastern and Midlands CARO As the examples shown in Figure 3-1 above suggest, mitigation addresses the causes of climate change, whereas adaptation addresses the impacts of climate change.

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   Climate Action | Chapter 3 75 While historically, priority has been given to mitigation measures, it is now recognised that adaptation is just as important as mitigation, and both actions taken in conjunction are crucial to limiting the impacts of climate change. International, National and Local Climate Policy In recent years, a succession of policies and actions have been developed at global, European, national, regional and local levels to address climate change, with an increasing focus on the decarbonisation of society. At a European level, the 2030 Climate and Energy Framework, the European Green Deal and the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2030 provide an overall framework for climate action in EU member states. The main aim of the European Green Deal is to be climate-neutral by 2050, which means an economy where there is a net-zero balance between GHG emission sources and sinks. To ensure the right trajectory, the Fit for 55 Plan sets out how the EU will achieve a reduction in carbon emissions by 55% compared with 1990 levels by 2030. Nationally, a climate and biodiversity emergency was declared by Dáil Éireann and Dublin City Council in 2019. Subsequently, the government’s 2021 Climate Action Plan (CAP) provides a detailed framework which identified how Ireland will achieve a 51% reduction in Ireland's overall GHG emissions from 2021 to 2030, and to achieving net-zero emissions no later than 2050. These legally-binding objectives are set out in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021. The CAP commits to delivering a just transition, recognising the significant level of change required and that the burden must be as fairly distributed as possible. In addition, under the National Adaptation Framework, twelve Sectoral Adaptation Plans were published by various government departments in 2019, setting out key risks faced across the different sectors and the approach being taken to address these risks and build climate resilience for the future. At the city level, the Dublin City Climate Change Action Plan, 2019-2024 (CCAP) demonstrates Dublin City Council’s commitment to transitioning to a low carbon society and economy. The CCAP, which is reviewed quarterly and reported on annually, sets out four key targets and over 200 actions that the council is undertaking in the areas of energy and buildings, transport, flood resilience, nature-based solutions and resource management.

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   Climate Action | Chapter 3 76 Figure 3-2: Action Areas identified in the Dublin City Climate Action Plan The Climate Action Plan for Dublin City Council sets a target of 40% reduction in the Council’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. As a signatory to the Covenant of Mayors Dublin City has a more ambitious target of 55% by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050, in line with the EU Green Deal ambitions. The CCAP is a key element of the council’s strategic approach to climate action and has informed and guided the policies and objectives contained in this development plan. Spatial Planning and Reducing Carbon Emissions In spatial planning policy terms, both the National Planning Framework (NPF) and the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly’s Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES) set out the role of the city development plan in relation to climate action. The NPF’s National Strategic Outcome (NSO) No. 8 ‘To Transition to a Low Carbon and Climate Resilient Society’ establishes a national objective to transition to a competitive, low carbon economy by the year 2050 and National Policy Objective (NPO) 54 seeks to “reduce our carbon footprint by integrating climate action into the planning system in support of national targets for climate policy mitigation and adaptation objectives, as well as targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions”. At the regional level, a key element of the RSES’s climate strategy is the need to monitor progress towards achieving national commitment to reduce GHG emissions by 40% to 2030, and to support a transition to a low carbon society by 2050. EMRA is to establish a regional GHG emissions inventory and agree reduction targets in accordance with national plans.

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   Climate Action | Chapter 3 77 In accordance with Regional Policy Objective (RPO 3.6) of the RSES, Dublin City Council will need to assess the impact of the development plan on carbon reduction targets, and to develop appropriate mechanisms to monitor greenhouse gas emissions in order to be in a position to fully measure progress against key milestones demonstrating carbon reduction over the coming years. As outlined in the RSES, this exercise will be dependent on the publication of guidelines, prepared by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH) which will provide clarification around the development of a suitable methodology for measuring carbon emissions appropriate to strategic land use designation and related transport infrastructure in the context of the preparation of city/county development plans. In view of the changing context in respect of climate action policy at national level, Dublin City Council will consider a variation of the development plan within a reasonable period of time to ensure the development plan will be will be consistent with the approach to climate action recommended in any relevant guidelines issued by the DHLGH. 3.2 Achievements In addition to the significant flood protection and waste infrastructure initiatives described in Chapter 9, the council has been active in progressing the following climate action related policies and projects: Climate Action Regional Office (CARO) The Climate Action Regional Office (CARO) covering the four Dublin local authorities was established in 2018 with Dublin City Council as the lead authority. CARO’s role includes assisting local authorities in preparing Climate Change Action Plans and developing education and awareness initiatives for the public. The Climate Change Action Plan for Dublin City (2019-2024) In 2019, a Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) was prepared by Codema for Dublin City Council that sets out over 200 actions across five key areas (energy and buildings, transport, flood resilience, nature-based solutions and resource management) in order to make Dublin City Council and its related operations more adaptive and resilient to the current and future impacts of climate change. The CCAP for Dublin City was completed in accordance with the requirements of the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy to which Dublin City Council is a signatory. The annual report on the CCAP for Dublin City will reflect updated Covenant of Mayors CO2 emission reduction targets for the city.

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   Climate Action | Chapter 3 78 As outlined in the CCAP, Dublin City Council has reduced its CO2 emissions by 24% in the last 10 years, has improved its energy efficiency by 29.8% and has met and exceeded its 2020 target of 33% by 8.6% (for a total of 41.6%). In addition, Dublin City Council is continually upgrading its social housing units through its Fabric Upgrade Programme, and since 2013, over 8,000 units have been refurbished, resulting in significant energy and cost savings, and improved comfort levels for residents. WHO Breathe Life Campaign In launching the Breathe Life Campaign with the local Comhairle na nÓg, DCC has made a commitment to future generations to ensure that Dublin is a city with clean air, clean water and a high quality of life. As per national and regional policies, the identification of decarbonised zones, low emission zones, and strategic energy zones in the development plan will be essential to ensuring future air quality. The Dublin District Heating System (DDHS) Dublin City Council is currently developing the Dublin District Heating System (DDHS) to supply low-carbon heat to houses and businesses throughout the Docklands and the wider Poolbeg peninsula. Waste heat will be taken from the Poolbeg waste-to-energy facility and delivered through insulated pipes to the buildings connected to the system, replacing fossil fuel heating systems and, therefore, reducing air pollution and GHG emissions. MODOS MODOS, a DCC circular economy training programme, is designed for small and medium sized businesses and consists of four modules which explain the circular economy and how it will provide benefits for businesses in terms of reducing costs, creating a competitive advantage and future proofing. The first series of modules were delivered to 37 small and medium sized businesses in 2020. Energy Performance Contracting In July 2016 Dublin City Council was the first local authority in Ireland to implement Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) to facilitate energy-efficiency upgrades and guarantee energy savings for three of DCC's largest leisure centres - namely Markievicz Sports and Fitness Centre, Finglas Sports and Fitness Centre and Ballymun Sports and Fitness Centre. Such innovations led to DCC winning the Public Sector - Energy Leadership Award at the 2020 Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) Energy Awards. Based on the success of Energy Performance Contracting, Dublin City Council is planning to collaborate with the four Dublin local authorities to aggregate and scale EPCs for our significant energy users, to assist us achieve our 2030 targets.

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   Climate Action | Chapter 3 79 3.3 Challenges Decarbonising the City and Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Fossil fuels such as oil, coal, gas and peat have been the main drivers of development and economic growth since the industrial revolution. Moving forward, the challenge is to decouple fossil fuels and economic growth, in order to reduce emissions while maintaining quality of life. As Dublin City continues to grow, the need to sustainably manage water, land, transportation, energy, housing and waste disposal will increase. The challenge will be to reduce energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions and to encourage the development of decentralised, alternative sources of energy. Under the recently adopted Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act, Ireland is committed to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030 (relative to a baseline of 2018) and Dublin City will have a key part to play in achieving this target. The Dublin City Climate Action Plan sets targets for the Council’s buildings, operations and social housing. These account for less than 4% of the total emissions in Dublin City, which highlights the need to work with stakeholders and tackle the remaining 96% of emissions produced citywide. Key challenges in this regard, include the need to improve the energy efficiency of existing building stock across the city and to reduce dependence on fossil fuel based transport. Flooding and Flood Risk A significant climate-related challenge facing the city is that rising sea levels and more frequent and severe rainfall events are contributing to increased flooding and flood risk which is, in turn, putting the city’s people, property and critical infrastructure at risk. To respond to this challenge, it will be necessary to adapt the response to flood risk management to address the impacts of climate change. Adapting to Climate Change Dublin City faces the threat of extreme weather events, sea level rise and pluvial and fluvial flooding which will impact on communities, infrastructure, heritage, and the environment. The rise in mean annual temperatures will also create new challenges for Dublin City in particular as the air, surface and soil temperatures in cities are almost always warmer than in rural areas (a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect). Extreme temperatures, hot and cold will also have adverse impacts on critical infrastructure, such as water supply, transportation and energy. Dublin City must rise to the challenge of adapting and becoming more resilient to such events.

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    Climate Action | Chapter 3 80 This will entail making physical changes to the city’s environment via nature based solutions (green walls, green roofs, green infrastructure) and hard engineering solutions (flood walls, barriers, early warning systems), but also by encouraging behaviour change, such as encouraging citizens to choose to use sustainable building materials, to cycle and walk more, to use less water and energy and to reduce the waste they produce. 3.4 Strategic Approach Having regard to the action areas identified in the NPF and RSES, as well as those set out in the Dublin City Climate Change Action Plan, the main strategic areas addressed in the following sections of this chapter include: ▪ sustainable settlement patterns; ▪ the built environment; ▪ energy; ▪ waste; ▪ sustainable transport; ▪ flood resilience and water; and ▪ Green Infrastructure and ecosystem services.

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