Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The current framework was published in 2018, since when our understanding of the impacts of climate change has changed. The speed at which those impacts are affecting us has changed, as has Government policy. The sectoral adaptation plans produced under the NAF are not necessarily reflective, I hope, of current Government policy. For example, the flood management sectoral plan includes a list of the prioritisation of impacts and the response to climate change. The assessment of potential green infrastructure, which I presume means nature-based solutions, gets an incredibly low rating. It is seen as not important at all. If we have learned anything recently, it is that we cannot rely on concreting and engineering our way out of climate change. We will have to work with nature. I am interested in the Minister's opinion on that.

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