Review of Ireland

1
Review of Irelands National Sustainable
Development Strategy

• Noel Casserly Thomas Legge
• Cultivate 18th April 2007

2
Outline of Presentation

• Context Irelands National SD Strategy EU SDS
• Comhar SDC Draft Position Paper
• Cross-cutting issues governance, policy
  integration, measuring sustainability
• Key thematic challenges
• Next Steps

3
Timeline for Sustainable Development in Ireland

• Agenda 21 - UNCED Rio de Janeiro 1992
• EPA established 1993
• Sustainable Development A Strategy for Ireland,
  1997
• Amsterdam treaty, 1997 - SD, a core task for EU
• Conclusions of Helsinki EC 1999 and Gothenburg EC
  2001 giving rise to EU SDS
• Comhar established 1999
• Making Irelands Development Sustainable 2002
• WSSD - Johannesburg 2002
• UN Decade for ESD begins 2005
• Revised of EU SDS in 2006
• Revision of Irelands SDS in 2007

4
Sustainable Development A Strategy for Ireland
(1997)

• Overall Objective Integration of environment
  into strategic policy sectors (agriculture,
  forestry, marine resources, energy, industry,
  transport, tourism).
• Supporting Structures National Sustainable
  Development Council (Comhar) Parliamentary
  Committee on SD Network of Government
  Departments Regional Authorities.
• Mechanisms Environment Partnership Fund market
  instruments (plastic bag levy and landfill levy).

5
Making Irelands Development Sustainable Review,
Assessment and Future Action (2002)

• Need for greater environmental integration
• Policy Priorities referenced to 6th EAP
• Climate Change Kyoto Commitments
• Nature, Biodiversity and Heritage NBP
• Environment and Health Air Quality and Water
  Quality (WFD)
• Waste Management Diversion from Landfill
• Supporting Strategies NCCS, NSS, NAPS

6
New EU SDS

• Revised Strategy June 2006
• Focus on improvement of policy making
• Strengthening ownership and involving
  stakeholders
• Thematic areas
• Climate change clean energy
• Sustainable transport
• Sustainable consumption production
• Management of natural resources
• Public health
• Social inclusion, demography and migration
• Global poverty and promoting development
• Cross cutting ESD RD

7
Revision of NSDS in 2007

• Government commitment Towards 2016
  partnership agreement
• Complementarity with existing national policies
  NDP, NSS, Climate Strategy
• Coherence with revised EU SDS
• Governance
• Development of appropriate indicators
• Thematic priorities
• Getting prices and incentives right
• Communication and mobilizing citizens

8
Comhar SDC desk-top studies

• Review of best practice and policy in the
  following areas
• Education for Sustainable Development
  Eco-unesco
• Indicators for Sustainable Development
  EnviroCentre (NI)
• Sustainable Consumption and Production Peter
  Doran

9
Draft Comhar SDC Postion Paper

• Cross-cutting issues
• Governance
• horizontal integration across government and
  sector agencies
• vertical integration regional and local
  authorities related structures
• Fiscal macro-economic measures
• Sustainability impact assessments
• Communication, education and awareness

10
Draft Comhar SDC Postion Paper

• Monitoring and measuring SD
• Indicators in EU SDI Task-force Report data
  exists for many of these
• Hierarchical approach
• Headline indicators for policy-makers
• Indicators to evaluate policy progress
• Indicators for implementation of specific policy
  objectives
• Resources and co-ordination
• Development of environmental and economic
  accounting material flow accounting.

11
Seven key challenges

• EU Sustainable Development Strategy identifies
  the following key challenges
• Climate change clean energy
• Transport
• Sustainable consumption production
• Conservation and management of natural resources
• Public health
• Social inclusion, demography migration
• Global poverty global SD challenges

12
Climate change clean energy

• Key challenges
• Climate change clean energy
• Transport
• Sustainable consumption production
• Conservation and management of natural resources
• Public health
• Social inclusion, demography migration
• Global poverty global sustainable development
  challenges

• EU objectives targets
• Global temperature rise limited to 2C
• Renewables 12 energy consumption by 2010 (15
  by 2015) 21 electricity consumption
• Biofuels 5.75 transport by 2010 (8 by 2015)
• Energy efficiency overall saving of 9 by 2017
• Greenhouse gases reduction of 15-30 by 2020
• Average car CO2 emissions 140 g/km by 2008/09,
  120 g/km by 2012

• EU proposed actions
• 20-30 reduction by 2020
• 20 increase in energy efficiency by 2020
• 10 biofuels use
• Biomass action plan
• CHP
• RD

13
Climate recommendations

• Key challenges
• Climate change clean energy
• Transport
• Sustainable consumption production
• Conservation and management of natural resources
• Public health
• Social inclusion, demography migration
• Global poverty global sustainable development
  challenges

• Ireland long-term recommendations
• Contribute to EU target of at least 20
  reductions
• Ambitious national target to 2020
• Adopt ambitious longer-term national target in
  consultation with stakeholders

• Ireland short-term recommendations
• Carbon proof all new fiscal measures and
  infrastructure
• Annual review of progress, with benchmarks
• Predictability clear timetable of policy
  measures
• Publish costs and benefits associated with
  policy options across all sectors
• Adaptation (not just measures against flooding!)
• National communications strategy

14
Transport

• Key challenges
• Climate change clean energy
• Transport
• Sustainable consumption production
• Conservation and management of natural resources
• Public health
• Social inclusion, demography migration
• Global poverty global sustainable development
  challenges

• EU objectives targets
• Decouple economic growth and transport demand
• Reduced transport energy and GHG emissions
• Reduce health-related pollution
• Modal shift
• Reduced noise
• Halve road deaths in 2010 compared with 2000

• EU proposed actions
• Shift from road to rail, water and public
  transport for passenger and freight
• Improve energy efficiency through use of
  cost-effective instruments
• Infrastructure charging via satellite
  information
• External costs methodology
• International maritime and air traffic
• Road safety
• Long term and coherent EU fuel strategy.

15
Transport recommendations

• Key challenges
• Climate change clean energy
• Transport
• Sustainable consumption production
• Conservation and management of natural resources
• Public health
• Social inclusion, demography migration
• Global poverty global sustainable development
  challenges

• Ireland long-term recommendations
• The NSDS could help define what sustainable
  transport means in an Irish context
• Indicative targets e.g. for modal share, average
  fuel-intensity of the public and private motor
  fleet

• Ireland short-term recommendations
• Commit to policy shift to charge all users for
  the full social, economic and environmental cost
  of transport infrastructure, including congestion
  charging
• Integrate land-use planning and transport
  planning
• National transport authority
• Fiscal measures to improve fuel- and
  carbon-efficiency

16
Transport targets (OECD backcasting methodology)
17
Sustainable consumption production

• Key challenges
• Climate change clean energy
• Transport
• Sustainable consumption production
• Conservation and management of natural resources
• Public health
• Social inclusion, demography migration
• Global poverty global sustainable development
  challenges

• EU objectives targets
• Development within ecosystems carrying capacity
• Decouple growth from environmental degradation
• Improving environmental and social performance
  for products and processes
• Best practice Green Public Procurement (GPP)
• Increase global market share in field of
  environmental technologies and eco-innovations.

• EU proposed actions
• EU SCP action plan
• Environmental and social performance targets in
  dialogue with businesses
• Share best practise on GPP and benchmarking
• Environmental Technologies Action Plan
• Performance labelling schemes
• Promote sustainable products like organic farming

18
SCP recommendations

• Key challenges
• Climate change clean energy
• Transport
• Sustainable consumption production
• Conservation and management of natural resources
• Public health
• Social inclusion, demography migration
• Global poverty global sustainable development
  challenges

• Ireland Action Plan on SCP to address
• Evidence base
• Link to other areas e.g. waste reduction
• Green Public Procurement
• Targets for public bodies
• Market/financing opportunities
• Reduced impact from production and services
• Shift to low-impact goods and services
• Adoption by business
• Supports for household and citizen action
• Decouple consumption and quality of life

• Other recommendations
• Set recommendations for each sector (e.g.
  energy, food, water, transport, construction)
• Set timelines
• Identify implementing agencies, delivery
  mechanisms, opportunities (e.g. enhanced
  cross-border cooperation on energy or economy)

19
Conservation management of natural resources

• Key challenges
• Climate change clean energy
• Transport
• Sustainable consumption production
• Conservation and management of natural resources
• Public health
• Social inclusion, demography migration
• Global poverty global sustainable development
  challenges

• EU objectives targets
• Resource efficiency
• Eco-innovations
• Restore degraded marine ecosystems by 2015
  including achievement of Maximum Yield in
  fisheries
• Halt EU biodiversity loss
• Reduce global biodiversity loss by 2010
• Waste reduction

• EU proposed actions
• Agriculture rural development programme,
  organic farming, animal welfare, biomass action
  plan
• Fisheries reformed Common Fisheries Policy
• EU Forest Action Plan
• Completion of Natura 2000 network (marine too)
• Biodiversity Strategy (EU and global dimensions)
• Integrated water resource management, marine
  environment, integrated coastal zone management

20
Conservation recommendations

• Key challenges
• Climate change clean energy
• Transport
• Sustainable consumption production
• Conservation and management of natural resources
• Public health
• Social inclusion, demography migration
• Global poverty global sustainable development
  challenges

• Ireland recommendations
• National Biodiversity Plan review and
  strengthen
• Extend REPS to habitat management/creation
• National inventory of outstanding landscapes
• National Coastal Zone Management strategy
• National Strategy for Biodegradeable Waste.

21
Public health

• Key challenges
• Climate change clean energy
• Transport
• Sustainable consumption production
• Conservation and management of natural resources
• Public health
• Social inclusion, demography migration
• Global poverty global sustainable development
  challenges

• EU objectives targets
• Food and feed legislation, including labelling
• Improve Animal health and welfare
• Curbing lifestyle-related and chronic diseases
• Reduce health inequalities
• Rules by 2020 for chemicals (including
  pesticides)
• Implementation of REACH
• Information on environmental pollution
• Mental health and suicide risks

• EU proposed actions
• European Centre for Disease Prevention Control
• Health determinants and lifestyle
• Food and feed legislation, including GMOs
• HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
• Research into environmental health factors
• Indoor air quality
• Transport, Health and Environment

22
Public health recommendations

• Key challenges
• Climate change clean energy
• Transport
• Sustainable consumption production
• Conservation and management of natural resources
• Public health
• Social inclusion, demography migration
• Global poverty global sustainable development
  challenges

• Ireland long-term recommendations
• Commitment to allow a healthy lifestyle for all
• Freedom from hazardous pollution in the air,
  water and food
• Encouraging more active lifestyles

• Ireland short-term recommendations
• Food labelling provenance and nutritional value
• Reduced air pollution, increased exercise
  through better land-use and transport planning

23
Social inclusion, demography migration

• Key challenges
• Climate change clean energy
• Transport
• Sustainable consumption production
• Conservation and management of natural resources
• Public health
• Social inclusion, demography migration
• Global poverty global sustainable development
  challenges

• EU objectives targets
• Reduce poverty risk by 2010 especially
  children
• Social cohesion, respect for cultural diversity
• Adapt to demographic change
• Increase employment by women, older workers,
  migrants, young people, disabled
• Develop migration policy
• Reduce negative effects of globalisation on
  workers

• EU proposed actions
• Social services
• European Youth Forum
• European Pact for Gender Equality
• Modernise social protection systems
• Communication on demographic future of Europe
• Implications of demographic change for land use
  and resource and energy consumption and mobility
• EU migration policy

24
Social inclusion recommendations

• Key challenges
• Climate change clean energy
• Transport
• Sustainable consumption production
• Conservation and management of natural resources
• Public health
• Social inclusion, demography migration
• Global poverty global sustainable development
  challenges

• Ireland long-term recommendations
• National Action Plan for Social Inclusion
  2007-2016 (NAPSI published February 2007)
• Goals in four areas education, employment and
  participation, income supports for disadvantaged
  groups.
• Reduce consistent poverty to 2-4 by 2012
• Reduce numbers at risk of poverty
• Address illiteracy among people of working age

25
Global poverty global SD challenges

• Key challenges
• Climate change clean energy
• Transport
• Sustainable consumption production
• Conservation and management of natural resources
• Public health
• Social inclusion, demography migration
• Global poverty global sustainable development
  challenges

• EU objectives targets
• Advance internationally agreed goals and targets
• Improved international governance
• Raise volume of aid to 0.7 per cent of GNI
• Promote sustainable development in WTO
• Improve EU aid
• Include SD concerns in all EU external policies

• EU proposed actions
• Implement initiatives on water, energy,
  chemicals
• Debt support, untying of aid
• EU strategies on Africa, Latin America and
  Pacific
• World Environment Organisation?

26
Global challenges recommendations

• Key challenges
• Climate change clean energy
• Transport
• Sustainable consumption production
• Conservation and management of natural resources
• Public health
• Social inclusion, demography migration
• Global poverty global sustainable development
  challenges

• Ireland long-term recommendations
• Support for EU negotiating position
• Millennium Development Goals, 2002 World Summit
  on Sustainable Development
• Meet target of 0.7 of Irelands GNI by 2012
• Full integration of SD in Irish Aid
• Clean Development Mechanism aligned with Irish
  Aid policy, highest standards of environmental
  and social integrity.

27
Whats missing ?

• Spatial planning
• RD
• Others..

28
Next Steps

• Stakeholder input essential
• Key Questions
• Successes and failures of the NSDS to date?
• What should new NSDS offer to stakeholders and
  citizens?
• What are simple key messages and target audience?
• What key elements will need to be addressed for
  implementation delivery?

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Further information

• www.comhar-nsdp.ie
• www.environ.ie
• www.eeac-network.org
• http//ec.europa.eu/sustainable/