New EPA-funded research on Ireland’s emergency planning systems published
On 17th August 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published research conducted by Dr Martin Le Tissier, Dr Dug Cubie and Peter Medway entitled “Enhancing Integration of Disaster Risk and Climate Change Adaptation into Irish Emergency Planning”. This research project was a collaboration between MaREI and the School of Law, and the final report examines how best to develop an integrated and holistic approach to both long-term climate change adaptation needs and the more immediate emergency risk management needs.
In Ireland, there is a portfolio of policies, plans, strategies and reports that address the consequences of climate change and emergency planning. However, emergency management and climate change adaptation are currently two discrete systems for governance, management and coordination at the national level. Based on desk research, key informant interviews and focus group discussions with local communities and stakeholders, the report shows that emergency response planning is different from developing a long-term risk management policy that acknowledges Ireland’s increasing vulnerability to the climate crisis.
Building on the existing Strategic Emergency Management (SEM) and Major Emergency Management (MEM) Frameworks, as well as examples of European good practice such as the Horizon 2020 ESPREssO project, the report argues that a key objective for both short-term emergency planning and long-term climate change adaptation is to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience of individuals, communities and national structures. In particular, preventing new risk and reducing the level of existing risk will in tun reduce the remaining residual risk left to be managed.
The report provides a high-level roadmap of guiding principles and a series of priority actions that the government and other stakeholders may wish to consider for achieving greater coherence and integration between the emergency management and climate adaptation frameworks in Ireland.
The report is available here.
