Dr. Tara Quinn:

I will give an overview of the section of the report that focuses on adaptation to climate change in Ireland. Ireland needs to be resilient to ongoing and future climate change impacts. This will require extensive adaptation, which is the process of adjusting to actual or expected climate and its effects. Successful adaptation depends on effectiveness of governance and decision-making processes. Current implementation of adaptation is too slow and fragmented. Doing better will require financing, working with people and nature, monitoring and evaluating outcomes and increasing public and private sector involvement.

What is clear is that climate change is happening now and that we need to adapt.

Key to adaptation are the interrelated concepts of risk, exposure and vulnerability, as members can see on the diagram on the screen, which features quite strongly in the IPCC report. Climate change risks emerge from the interactions between hazards such as floods, storms and heatwaves, and the exposure and vulnerability of populations and infrastructure. Risk is therefore not static but evolves as the frequency and intensity of hazards increase and as exposure and vulnerabilities change over time. Adaptation, therefore, can be thought of as ongoing risk management, focusing on processes of assessment, action, monitoring, evaluation, learning and improvement.

Mitigation and adaptation are inherently linked. The more warming experienced, the greater the challenge of adaptation. Even if the world is successful in meeting the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement, adaptation to a changed climate will still be required. Adaptation action taken today to reduce vulnerabilities and exposure, and to increase resilience, will have benefits now while also shaping the future and should be seen as an investment rather than a short-term cost.

We are not starting from an ideal position for adaptation because of aging infrastructures, declining quality of the built environment, and significant and ongoing environmental deterioration, including declines in water quality, biodiversity and ecosystem quality. Many natural and human systems upon which well-being depend have become less resilient. Foundations for adaptation are being laid, and there are reasons for optimism. However, there are challenges that need to be confronted and improvements made. Volume 3 highlights key actions necessary to build momentum and develop a pathway to a climate-resilient Ireland. Key among these are the seven points members can see on the screen.

First is defining objectives. Successful adaptation is dependent on collectively negotiating and defining goals around what success looks like. Second, ensuring just adaptation and resilience will require careful consideration of how the benefits and burdens of adaptations are distributed, taking fair participation and decision-making seriously, and making sure that decision-making processes reflect diverse values and perspectives. Third is monitoring and evaluation. Greater focus needs to be placed on monitoring and evaluating adaptation processes and outcomes rather than simply just focusing on implementation. This information will be key for learning and doing adaptation better in the future.

Fourth is understanding the social dimensions of adaptation. Adaptation is not just about technical solutions. Successful adaptation depends on reducing vulnerability, which requires a better understanding of the spatial, temporal and socioeconomic nature of vulnerability. Fifth is working with people and nature. Widening adaptation actions to include nature-based approaches opens opportunities for realising co-benefits for people and nature, with potentially positive outcomes for environmental quality, biodiversity and health and well-being, as well as improved resilience to climate change.

Sixth is integrating climate uncertainty into decision making, particularly where adaptation concerns critical infrastructure or where exposure or vulnerability is high. Frameworks for decision making under uncertainty are needed to support adaptation in Ireland. Finally, we must avoid lock-in and maintain flexibility. Climate resilience requires integrating flexibility and diversity of options into climate adaptation planning. Adaptation decisions should not lock us into resource allocations and decision pathways that limit the choices of future generations.

I will now hand over to Professor Hannah Daly to give an overview of the next section.