Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed, TD, today welcomed government approval for the Agriculture, Forest and Seafood Climate Change Sectoral Adaptation Plan. Adaptation is the process of preparing for the impacts of climate disruption including, for events such as flooding, fodder shortages or extreme storm events.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D. stated
I am very pleased the Agriculture, Forest and Seafood Climate Change Sectoral Adaptation Plan has been approved as part of the Whole-of-Government approach adopted under Climate Action Plan 2019. We have taken a consistent approach to adaptation planning across the Department and have prepared a single plan covering the agriculture, forest and seafood sector.
Primary producers are very much to the forefront of dealing with the impacts of a changing climate but climate change is an issue which belongs to all of us; it is something that everyone in the production chain needs to consider. Nor is it solely a domestic issue. Our agriculture, forest and seafood sectors will be impacted by global changes in climate also. The Minister went on to say that
in addition to reducing our emissions, we must ensure that our food production system is resilient and ready to adapt to future climate risk.
The Minister stated that
The Agriculture, Forest and Seafood Sectoral Adaptation Plan approved today is an important next step in our goal to build a strong and resilient sector that is well placed to take on the challenges and opportunities presented by our changing climate.
The Adaptation Plan highlights a number of case studies identifying how the sector has and will continue to be impacted by changing weather patterns and steps towards building resilience.
Note to Editors:
Ireland’s first Statutory National Adaptation Framework (NAF) was published in 2018. The NAF sets out the national strategy to reduce the vulnerability of the country to the negative effects of climate change and to avail of any positive impacts. The NAF was developed under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015.
The NAF identified twelve key sectors required to prepare sectoral adaptation plans. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is responsible for three of the sectors identified – Agriculture, Forest and Seafood.
The Department published a non-statutory adaptation planning document in 2017 titled, Adaptation Planning – Developing Resilience to Climate Change in the Irish Agriculture and Forest Sector. The work undertaken as part of the development of that document provided the basis for the development of the current Plan.
The main difference this time around is the inclusion of the seafood sector as part the Plan, thereby taking a whole of Department approach to adaptation planning.
The Overall Adaptation Goal of this statutory Plan is to build resilience to the effects of climate change and weather related events in the agriculture, forestry and seafood sector, to reduce any negative impacts where possible, to take advantage of any opportunities and to contribute to the achievement of the Department’s Statement of Strategy Goals.
The Plan includes fifteen case studies to highlight some real examples of the impact of future climate change projections on the sector and steps towards building resilience to deal with these impacts. By taking steps to reduce exposure to present climate variability we can inform future climate adaptation requirements and increase resilience.
The Government will today (Thursday the 31st of October 2019) publish the first progress report on the Climate Action Plan, the government’s plan to secure a cleaner, more sustainable, healthier Ireland for future generations. The government will today also publish adaptation plans for 12 key sectors, to ensure that we are prepared for the impact climate disruption is already having in a number of areas and deliver on Ireland’s commitments to help protect the planet.
The Climate Action Plan, published earlier this year and led by Minister Bruton, sets out actions across every sector of society which will ensure we meet our 2030 climate commitments, putting us on a trajectory to be net zero emissions by 2050.
The government will today also publish adaptation plans for 12 key sectors. The 12 key sectors are: Seafood, Agriculture, Forestry, Biodiversity, Built and Archaeological Heritage, Transport Infrastructure, Electricity and Gas Networks, Communications Networks, Flood Risk Management, Water Quality, Water Services Infrastructure and Health. Each Plan identifies the key risks faced across the sector and the approach being taken to address these risks and build climate resilience for the future.