Policy information
Tackling Climate Breakdown - Local Government, Regional Offices and EU Cities Mission
From Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
Published on
Last updated on
Local authorities are at the forefront of climate action in Ireland. They help make the national climate goals and policies work at a local level to assist in the delivery of the national climate objective.
A number of work programmes are being supported by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications in collaboration with the local government sector to drive emission reductions locally.
Each of Ireland’s 31 local authorities is required to develop a Local Authority Climate Action Plan (LACAP) , as set out in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Amendment Act 2021. Each local authority was instructed to commence this process in late February 2023 and had 12 months to prepare their plans.
All 31 local authorities have been preparing their climate action plans over the past year and all plans have now been adopted by the elected members.
Completing the local climate action plans is a milestone for the local government sector. Collectively there are almost 4,000 actions set out across all the local plans. They list practical climate measures to be completed in each local authority area over the next five years.
Each local authority climate action plan must be consistent with the State’s National Climate Action Plan to help ensure a clear link between national climate policy and local policy and implementation.
The local authority climate action plans will address mitigation and adaptation in an integrated way and strengthen alignment between climate policy and the delivery of effective climate action at local and community levels. They will play a significant role in reinforcing the commitment by the local government sector to lead climate action.
The local authority climate action plans are designed to lead to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in each local authority area. The five guiding principles for the local action plans are - ambitious, action-focused, evidence-based, participative and transparent.
As part of its local climate action plan, each authority has:
The CAROs have completed a preliminary review of all 31 LACAPs to understand their overall impact, to identify joint projects, case studies and innovative actions, and to identify local authority engagement with key stakeholders.
This analysis will act as the central database of LACAP actions and a powerful analysis tool. It will enable the sharing of best practice and expertise among local authorities by identifying case studies and will enable the potential for shared actions.
The LACAP Preliminary Findings Report can be found here.
Each local authority has selected a Decarbonising Zone (DZ) as part of its Local Authority Climate Action Plan. A DZ is a spatial area identified by a local authority in which a range of climate mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity measures are identified to address local low carbon energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate needs.
A DZ is a demonstration and test bed of what is possible for decarbonisation at a local level. Through a feedback loop of experimentation and evaluation, the DZ should foster a flexible, incremental and community-driven approach to ensure that its objectives can be delivered. The DZ concept gives local authorities the mandate to take risks, innovate and develop demonstrator projects which, where successful, can be replicated nationally.
A spread of DZs has been put forward in the recently adopted local climate action plans in terms of size, type, and actions. There are 41 DZs in total across Ireland, 29 of which are urban, 6 part-urban and 6 rural. The combined population of the DZ area is 435,310 people and the estimated total emissions for the DZs combined territory (2018 baseline year) is 3.9 MT co2 eq.
There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to developing a DZ. DZs can address multiple energy and non-energy related 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 an inter-departmental and inter-agency DZ Advisory Group to assist local authorities with their Decarbonising Zones at the national level.
Developing and implementing the local climate action plans requires more of the local authorities. In recognition of this, the Department is providing funds for specific roles to form part of and strengthen climate action teams - a Climate Action Coordinator and a Climate Action Officer.
These supports will ensure that each local authority has a specialised team in place to coordinate the development of the plan and responsible for supporting its implementation and tracking this.
A dedicated Community Climate Officer is also funded through another workstream under the Climate Action Fund (CAF) Community Climate Action Programme – Strand 1. Find out more here.
Local authorities have essential local knowledge and have a critical role to play in managing climate risks and vulnerabilities and identifying adaptation actions that will build resilience locally.
Under the National Adaptation Framework and Climate Action Plan 2019, each local authority developed its own adaptation strategy, in line with guidelines developed for the sector. The Local Authority Climate Action Plans supersede these adaptation strategies.
In January 2018, the government established four Climate Action Regional Offices (CAROs) 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. The CAROs provide a shared service function within the local government sector, with input from the County and City Management Association (CCMA).
The need for regional climate offices was reflected in both the National Adaptation Framework and the National Mitigation Plan and a commitment was made to provide €10 million in funding over a 5-year period.
A new Service Level Agreement was signed in 2023 with a total allocation of €12 million for the period 2023 – 2029. This is enabling 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.
Each Climate Action Regional Office is operated by a lead local authority. The regional structure of the CAROs was designed to ensure that the counties within each regional area share similar geographical and topographical characteristics and climate risks.
The four CAROs and lead local authorities are:
More information is available on the CARO website.
The Department directly supports upskilling and capacity building in the local government sector by funding 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 local authority climate action training programme has been designed to increase understanding of climate change and the need for action among local authority staff and elected members. Building climate action capacity in the local authorities is essential to support their leadership role in the fight against climate change and in building resilience to its negative effects.
Training has been delivered in areas such as climate science, the translation of international and national policy to local requirements, practical adaptation and mitigation measures. Training has been rolled out to support local authorities with developing their local authority climate action plans.
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.
The Department signed a Service Level Agreement with Kildare County Council, as the lead authority for the Eastern and Midlands CARO, to deliver the new 2024-2027 training programme. The Eastern and Midlands CARO works in conjunction with the local authority training provider - the Local Authority Services National Training Group.
The new training programme will put a stronger emphasis on taking a learner-centric approach by including interactive learning, self-directed and peer to peer learning, and learner progression and recognition. It will also provide more tailored, face-to-face training for staff and elected members. This will empower individuals to become catalysts for meaningful change within their local authority and councillor roles.
See more here.
The European Commission set up the EU Cities Mission in 2021. Its aim is to support 100 cities in the EU to become climate neutral by 2030 and to pave the way for all cities in Europe to be climate neutral by 2050. European cities can substantially contribute to the EU Green Deal target of reducing emissions by 55% by 2030.
The Cities Mission forms part of Horizon Europe which is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation.
In April 2022, Cork City and Dublin City were selected from over 300 applicants to be part of the initiative. The Department is supporting the two cities in achieving the target of being net zero cities by 2030 by setting up a National Mirror Group, as well as working with the cities to assist and advise them.
Large urban areas have been selected for specific focus and help because urban areas across Europe account for 75% of its population. The Cities Mission will help cities to become places which provide citizens with a good quality of life through cleaner air, safer transport and less congestion and noise.
Cork City and Dublin City are poised to act as experimentation and innovation hubs, implementing cutting-edge and creative solutions across areas such as energy, transport, waste, infrastructure and buildings to reduce their environmental footprints. They will act as sites of learning and inspiration for other cities and towns in the decades to come.
The two cities are working with the support platform, Net Zero Cities, to develop and implement the actions and investment plan which form their Climate City Contracts. The contract is the central feature of the Mission and constitutes a highly visible political commitment to the European Commission, national and regional authorities, and citizens.
The missions will take a cross-sectoral and demand-led approach and will involve the local authorities, citizens, businesses, regional and national authorities, investors and academia.
Galway City was successful in March 2023 in securing a €1m grant as part of the Net Zero Cities Pilot Cities programme which supports cities to test and implement innovative approaches to rapid decarbonisation. Galway’s goal is to reduce carbon emissions by focusing on the built environment and the retrofit of buildings.
More information can be found on the European Commission website.
The Local Authority Climate Action Charter represents a crucial step for local authorities in responding more widely to the challenges of climate change.
The 2019 Climate Action Plan required that a Climate Action Charter be introduced for every local authority through the use of Ministerial policy directions or equivalent power.
Following a consultation process with the City and County Managers Association, the Climate Action Regional Offices (CAROs) and local authorities, DECC submitted a Local Authority Climate Action Charter to government who approved it on 22 October 2019. The Minister signed it along with key local authorities on 29 October 2019 and all local authorities have now signed up to it. The Charter can be found here.
The Charter recognises that a whole-of-government approach is essential in addressing climate change. Central government has a lead role to play in developing policy and ensuring resources are made available to realise Ireland’s climate and sustainability commitments, while local authorities are ideally placed to provide robust leadership in advancing this objective at the local and regional level.
The Charter commits local authorities to actions that will ensure that they play a key leadership role locally and nationally in delivering effective climate action. The actions range across a number of areas including energy use, public procurement and transport.
The Local Authority Climate Action Charter will be reviewed and updated in 2024 to ensure it aligns with the continuously evolving climate action policy context.