Prioritising and Assessing Climate Impacts (summary of Chapter 5)

Climate change presents complex and growing challenges to Ireland’s transport network, from increased rainfall and flooding to rising sea levels, coastal erosion and more frequent extreme storms and strong winds. A structured assessment was carried out to identify which climate impacts pose the greatest risks across all transport modes including roads, rail, ports, airports, active travel and public transport.

This prioritisation used three key criteria:

• exposure: how exposed are transport modes and infrastructure to particular climate hazards
• vulnerability: how sensitive transport assets are to specific climate hazards, including how they’re designed and their capacity to adapt
• criticality: how important a service or piece of infrastructure is to keeping the transport system and wider society running, and what could happen if it's disrupted such as delays, damage, or risks to people’s safety, or wider knock-on effects, including cross-border impacts

This approach identified 49 priority climate impacts across all transport modes, which have then been assessed in detail for likelihood and magnitude. These insights will guide future adaptation efforts and investment decisions, ensuring the sector builds resilience where it's needed most.

Read more in Chapter 5 of the plan