IT’S certainly timely that, just days after floods devastated parts of the county and left several roads impassable in West Cork, the County Council is seeking the public’s input into a five-year Climate Action Plan.
There is a tiny element of the climate horse having already bolted at this point, especially looking at the horrific pictures from Midleton last week, but at least there are finally serious moves being taken to provide some future-proofing.
As our lead story this week details, the plan aims to help the Council work to influence, facilitate and coordinate the climate actions of communities and stakeholders in the county.
It also details how the Council will take action to meet national targets, amid fears of increased flooding incidents in the future.
The draft Climate Action Plan 2024-2029 is open for public consultation until November 27th and, given it is a subject that is going to affect every one of us at some point, it would be wise if all the county’s citizens took an interest in it.
The plan details how Cork County Council will work with its communities to advocate for change, as well as with national government and State agencies to deliver climate action. It contains defined goals, objectives and actions across the themes of community, biodiversity, natural environment, heritage, land use, economy, transportation, built environment and waste.
The plan also sets out the actions that Cork County Council will take across its own services to meet national emissions targets and to mitigate against the impacts of climate change.
It says its priorities include reducing the Council’s direct carbon emissions by 51% by 2030 and increasing its energy efficiency by 50% in the same time period.
It is also establishing Macroom as Cork county’s first ‘decarbonising zone’ – a veritable ‘guinea pig’ town to see what is possible for decarbonisation and climate action at a local and community level.
The Council also plans to seek funding for the plan from internal, external and private sources, including the EU and energy performance contracts with third party contractors.
Launching the details of the plan, the county mayor noted that Storm Babet dropped a month’s worth of rainfall in 24 hours causing unprecedented flooding and damage to homes, businesses and roads. ‘We have already seen sea levels in the Cork harbour area rise by 40cm since 1842, average rainfall increase and record-breaking summer temperatures,’ said Cllr Frank O’Flynn.
‘Heatwaves, droughts, flooding and coastal erosion are expected to occur more frequently into the future because of climate change. It is essential that we all work together to minimise the impact and to safeguard the future of generations to come. I’m encouraging individuals, communities and businesses to engage with this plan and to have their voices heard.’
It was reassuring for those living in Bandon, Clonakilty and Skibbereen to see that the flood relief schemes of recent years appeared to have worked last week. There was a huge amount of disruption to those towns while the multi-million euro schemes were put in place.
But it now seems it was worth it.
In Skibbereen, memories are still fresh regarding the two major events in 2009 which saw over 120 residential properties and more than 70 businesses, schools, care centres, public buildings and sporting facilities flooded.
The Skibbereen scheme claims to have given the town a 200-year defence against flooding while the other two towns’ plans are for a 100-year timeline. But with the climate warming at an alarming rate, and sea levels continuing to rise, one wonders if those timelines are even enough. It is also difficult to see how potential damage to roads, coastal edges and bridges can be limited. The Council itself is predicting more issues for the county’s infrastructure in the years to come – issues which will no doubt become a massive drain on its resources.
The only real way to combat what lies ahead is to try and tackle the causes today. It is welcome, therefore, to see the Council choosing a town as a ‘testbed’ for carbon reduction measures.
Macroom will, hopefully, become a guiding light for others to follow.
