Rollout of €29 million funding to support the Local Authority Climate Action Plans continues as event takes place in Wexford

Climate Action staff from local authorities around the country gathered in Wexford today as the rollout of €29 million in funding from the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications continues.

Minister O'Brien is confident that this multi-annual funding approach will be a major support for all 31 local authorities in the delivery of each of their Climate Action Plans. Funding has been committed over a 5-year period for Phase 3 – implementation of the Local Authority Climate Action Plans.

This funding has allowed all local authorities to hire two specialist climate staff – a Climate Action Coordinator and Officer – who have been working to support their local authority's climate action plans.

These two climate posts, which have been in place since 2022, mean that each local authority has a specialist team in place to implement its climate action plans. They are responsible for managing the climate action resources and overseeing climate action, including mitigation and adaptation, and building climate action awareness and readiness.

The Climate Action Regional Offices (CAROs) yesterday and today (2 and 3 April) held their second annual two-day event for the climate action teams across all 31 local authorities. Held in County Wexford, the event celebrated the first year of delivering actions in the local plans. It provided an opportunity for staff to network, visit climate action projects in Wexford to share learning, and hear updates on the plans across the country from speakers.

The 5-year new funding round covers November 2023 to December 2028 and follows on from previous funding which was provided for Phase 1 and 2 of the Local Authority Climate Action Plans in 2022 and 2023. Each local authority claims their allocation of the funding in arrears so drawdown for Phase 3 only began in December 2024.

Minister O'Brien said:

Each local authority was required to develop a Local Authority Climate Action Plan in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 over three phases: establish the evidence base; develop; and implement. The local plans are designed to lead to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in each local authority area. All 31 local authorities adopted their LA CAPs by early 2024, securing approval from their elected members.

The department has paid almost €14 million to all local authorities for the local authority climate action plans to date. The department is also providing funding to local authorities through other climate programmes such as the Community Climate Action Programme and Climate Actions Work.

The local plan is a key instrument that strengthens the links between national and international climate policy and effective climate action at local and community levels, through place-based climate action. They will play a significant role in reinforcing the commitment by the local government sector to lead on climate action at local level.

Completing the plans has been a huge milestone for the local government sector, showing their leadership in delivering climate action and translating national policy objectives and targets into local action. Collectively there are almost 4,000 actions set out across all the plans which cover areas such as natural environment and green infrastructure, built environment and infrastructure, and community resilience and transition.

Mr Frank Curran, Chief Executive Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Chair of the County and City Management Association (CCMA) Environment, Climate, and Circular Economy Committee, said:

ENDS

Local Authority Climate Action Plans

As set out in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021, each local authority is required to prepare a Local Authority Climate Action Plan (LA CAP) specifying the mitigation and the adaptation measures to be adopted.

The plans will see each local authority actively translating national climate policy to local circumstances, with the prioritisation and acceleration of evidence-based measures. This will assist in the delivery of our climate goals at local and community levels.

As part of its local climate action plan, each authority:

• assessed current emissions levels from local authority sources and more widely within the county/city through a Baseline Emissions Inventory
• carried out a Climate Change Risk Assessment to identify climate hazards and assess vulnerability to these hazards
• identified and established a "decarbonising zone" (DZ). The DZ is a specific part of the county/city which acts as a 'test bed' of what is possible for accelerating low carbon actions

Actions in local authority plans include, for example, active travel projects to encourage use of active travel modes such as walking or cycling, retrofitting 25% of local authority social housing stock to Building Energy Rating (BER) B2 standard, and the integration of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems and other nature-based solutions.

The CAROs, working with the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA), will be assisting each local authority to track its progress in delivering its climate action plan, publishing the results in the annual LGMA Local Government Climate Action Key Performance Indicator Report (due to be published in August). Each local authority will also be preparing an annual review of progress in relation to its local climate plan.

Decarbonising Zones

As part of its LA CAP, each local authority was required to select a "Decarbonising Zone" (DZ). This is a spatial area designed to act as a testbed for innovative decarbonisation projects to implement a range of climate mitigation, adaptation, and biodiversity measures. It gives local government the freedom to innovate, take risks, and to develop demonstrator projects which, where successful, can be replicated nationally.

DZs are intended to be the focus for a range of climate mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity measures and will help local authorities to identify projects which will contribute to the delivery of the national climate objective.

There are 41 DZs in total across Ireland, 70% of which are urban/part-urban. There is no 'one size fits all' approach to DZs which address multiple issues that drive decarbonisation such as mobility, heat, buildings, infrastructure, fuel energy poverty, skills, employment, well-being, circular economy, and land use. The department has set up a DZ Advisory Group to assist local authorities with Decarbonising Zones at the national level. More information is available on the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications website.

Annual Local Government Climate Event

The CAROs host an annual two day event for climate action staff across all local authorities. This year’s event takes places on 2-3 April in County Wexford. The first day consisted of site visits to climate action sites around County Wexford, these locations include Ballyhealy Beach, Tullabeg Solar Farm, and Glynn Barntown GAA Club. The purpose is to allow local authority staff to visit other interesting and innovative climate projects, learn about these and how they were managed and delivered by the local authority, and seek to apply some of this learning to their own counties as a peer-to-peer exchange model.

The second day was a conference which began with an opening address (recorded) by Minister O’Brien. Attendees included Chief Executive Sean McKeown of Kilkenny County Council, Marie Donnelly from the Climate Change Advisory Council. Discussions centred around the National Climate Change Risk Assessment, Organisational Culture Change and showcases from local authorities on the first year of implementation of their plans.

Climate Action Regional Offices

In 2018, 4 Climate Action Regional Offices (CAROs) were formed as a local authority shared service in recognition of the need to build capacity within the local government sector to respond and adapt to climate change. The CAROs play an important role in ensuring that cross-sectoral climate issues are identified and addressed.

A Service Level Agreement was signed in 2023 with a total allocation of €12 million for the period 2023 – 2029. This will enable the CAROs to continue their work in supporting local government to coordinate and deliver climate actions and to develop their local authority climate action plans.

County and City Management Association (CCMA)

The CAROs were developed in partnership with the County and City Management Association (CCMA) which is the 'representative voice' of local government management and assists local authorities in managing shared services.

Local Authority Climate Action Training Programme

The department funds upskilling and capacity building in the local government sector through the Local Authority Climate Action Training Programme, with a commitment of €1.792 million over 2024-2027. This follows on from the previous training programme which was delivered from 2021-2023.

The climate training programme has been designed to increase understanding of climate change and the need for action among local authority staff and elected members.

Under the previous training programme, 27,000 training places were provided to approximately 23,000 staff and elected members. This equates to around 73% of local authority staff and around 35% of elected members having completed training through the programme.