Mr. Paddy Mahon:

On behalf of the County and City Management Association and the climate action regional offices, CAROs, I welcome the opportunity to meet the Chairperson and members of the joint committee to discuss the challenges and opportunities of climate action for local authorities. We believe the local authorities are well placed to address the climate challenge by embedding climate action in our operations and leading climate action across our areas and communities. With 31 local authorities across Ireland working towards this ambition, there is an opportunity to achieve significant impact locally.

In recent years, the CCMA has overseen a number of important developments. The CAROs were established in 2018 and are funded by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications for a five-year period. The CAROs were set up to do drive climate action across the sector, assist in the alignment of policy and mainstream climate action across all local authority functions.

In 2019, local authorities prepared their climate change adaptation plans and signed the climate action charter. A comprehensive local authority climate action training programme was also developed. In 2020, the sector achieved its energy performance target of 33%. We also developed a sectoral strategy entitled, Delivering Effective Climate Action, and made a subsequent funding submission.

In 2021, significant activity included the creation of guidance on the electrification of the local authority fleet and electric vehicle, EV, charging; a national conference on economic opportunities and climate action; the creation of active travel teams throughout the sector with funding from the National Transport Authority; the identification of decarbonising zones; a public lighting retrofit programme was put in place; work commenced on the local authority housing retrofit programme; and climate action training continued. This year, the focus has been on the preparation of guidance on climate adaptation for regional and local roads, engagement with local authorities on the areas of rising sea levels and coastal erosion, and preparing guidance for the forthcoming climate action plans, as we are required to do.

The challenges we face are framed by the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 and the Climate Action Plan 2021, specifically in the areas of improving energy efficiency to 50% by 2030, delivering a 51% reduction in carbon emissions, and each local authority devising its own climate action plan.

Local authorities are also engaged in a number of areas. In adaptation, which is a pivotal area of local area activity, coastal erosion is particularly challenging at the moment. The CAROs and local authority sector are represented on the national steering group on this area, which is led by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. To date, training has been made available to over 16,000 employees and all of our elected members.

In the area of community and enterprise activity, local authorities are well positioned in communities with established engagement in climate action to take on a broader role, influencing and facilitating others to meet their targets. For example, we are a lead partner in the GAA green clubs programme. The economic opportunities arising from the climate action project work with local enterprise offices, LEOs, and the local community development committees, LCDCs, to promote climate action through the lens of opportunity.

A just transition is an essential element of climate action. Local authorities already provide a range of socioeconomic and community development services and we are well placed to enable and support a just transition.

Our ambition is clear. It was pointed out in the charter that we signed in 2019 and in the strategy that local government developed in 2020, Delivering Effective Climate Action 2030. It is a comprehensive commitment across all 31 local authorities. Our vision is to leverage the capability, reach and resources of local authorities to lead and co-ordinate climate action across Ireland.

It needs resources. In its annual report in 2021, the Climate Change Advisory Council, CCAC, noted the progress of the sector but it also pointed out the resource and capacity constraints facing local authorities.

Climate action, as the committee members all will be aware, is a broad area requiring diverse skill sets. It also needs boots on the ground. From communication with the sector and feedback to Departments at the recent CCMA plenary, it was clear that there is insufficient staff capacity at local authority and CARO levels. The CAROs, were originally established on a climate adaptation footing but their work programme has expanded rapidly and moved very much into the climate mitigation and energy area, with insufficient staff at regional level to assist local authorities. The sector is looking for clarity from the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications as to what happens when the five-year temporary funding of the CARO ceases in March 2023.

We are also looking to that Department for support for staff resources across the local authority sector. Those resources were identified in the strategy that I mentioned earlier, Delivering Effective Climate Action 2030. We believe each local authority needs: a climate action co-ordinator; an energy and emissions manager; a climate action officer; a green solutions specialist; and a community climate action officer.

We have been engaging over the last year, particularly with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, with a view to securing the necessary funding towards the cost of putting these resources in place in advance of the preparation of the climate action plans that we will be required to do before the end of this year. The CCMA is clear that these additional resources need to be in place in 2022 to ensure that local authorities realise our ambition to deliver transformative change and measurable climate action across our cities and counties and within our own organisations through leadership, example and mobilising action at a local level.

I thank the Chair for the opportunity to speak. My colleagues and I would be delighted to try to answer the committee's questions.