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The Irish local government sector is a key player with respect to the State meeting its climate change commitment of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by no later than the end of 2050. Its broad operational remit in providing over 1,000 services, many of which require climate proofing, and its close relationship with communities, means that its contribution is critical if national and EU climate commitments are to be met. In light of various policy and legislative requirements in recent years, the sector has committed to monitoring, evaluating and reporting annually on its climate actions under the Local Authority Climate Action Charter and the sector’s climate action strategy, Delivering Effective Climate Action 2030. This research builds on an initial scoping exercise undertaken in 2021 to understand how the sector can best monitor and report on climate actions through the identification of key performance indicators (KPIs). The current research advances that work and addresses four research objectives to further support the sector in identifying and implementing climate action KPIs. First, it sets the context for the changing role of local authorities on climate action in recent years. Second, it identifies an updated set of KPIs that individual local authorities can select from to track specific local climate action outcomes and that can be aggregated for the local government sector. Third, it aligns each KPI to specific services and functions performed by local authorities. This is guided by the categorisation of services and functions in the Local Authority Climate Action Plan Guidelines (Draft). And fourth, it categorises KPIs under the six thematic areas identified in the local government sector’s own climate action strategy, Delivering Effective Climate Action 2030. Research objective 1: Results of the research illustrate that the local government sector has taken on significantly expanded responsibilities for climate action in recent years. Research objective 2: An extensive literature review integrating both academic publications and a selection of best practices across municipalities considered at the forefront of climate action globally was undertaken in June 2022. This resulted in 121 KPIs being identified as potentially relevant to the Irish local government sector. Research objective 3: KPIs were subsequently aligned to 19 pre-defined local authority functional areas. This mapping exercise is a useful starting point for the sector in identifying KPIs based on specific operational services it provides. Research objective 4: Each KPI was aligned to six strategic goals within the sector’s climate action strategy. 15 KPIs met two strategic goals, 64 aligned to three strategic goals, 27 KPIs met four strategic goals, 6 KPIs related to five strategic goals and 9 KPIs aligned to all six strategic goals. The 121 KPIs offer an opportunity for the sector to review and refine these for future use based on their own particular needs. At a strategic level, this should involve key sectoral stakeholders identifying and agreeing a set of indicators that support the sector’s climate action commitments as contained in the Climate Action Charter and Delivering Effective Climate Action 2030. This research provides a useful baseline in advancing this process. Overall, this report supports the local government sector to deliver on its national climate action commitments and in demonstrating public sector climate action leadership. Whilst these indicators represent relevant metrics applicable to the sector, it is important to recognise the evolving nature of climate policy at both EU and national levels. Periodic reviews of indicators to ensure they remain relevant, are aligned with international best practice, and are applicable to current policy and local authority operations are crucial.

The Irish local government sector is a key public sector body with respect to the State meeting its climate change ambitions of carbon neutrality by 2050. Its broad operational remit in providing over 1,000 services, many of which require climate-proofing, and its close relationship with communities, means that it is a key public sector body if national and EU climate commitments are to be met. In light of various policy and legislative requirements in recent years, the sector has committed to monitoring, evaluating and reporting annually on the implementation of activities contained in the Local Authority Climate Action Charter, a key policy agreed between central government and the sector in 2019. This research supports the sector through i) documenting the work that has taken place to date in the area of climate action, including policy developments nationally and internationally; ii) developing a comprehensive literature review to identify national and international best practice regarding the development of climate action Key Performance Indicators (KPIs); iii) comparing climate action KPIs across jurisdictions; and iv) exploring opportunities for the development of KPIs for the Irish local government sector aligned to KPIs in other jurisdictions. An extensive literature review integrating both academic publications and a selection of best practices across municipalities considered at the forefront of climate action globally was undertaken in March/April 2021. Results demonstrated a range of best practices in the development and implementation of climate action performance metrics, including ensuring indicators are clear, broad stakeholder support and engagement exists, climate action KPIs are mainstreamed, benchmarking policies and baseline periods are developed and indicators are simple to measure and report on. Whilst governance structures within the Irish local government sector are highly centralised in comparison to international standards, the literature typically identified KPIs as aligning to either mitigation or adaptation metrics. A total of 60 outcome KPIs that may offer some level of transferability or adaptability with respect to local authorities’ climate change ambitions were identified. This includes 36 mitigation metrics, 10 adaptation metrics and 14 metrics that are considered both mitigation and adaptation KPIs. These indicators relate to climate change mitigation and adaptation across 14 areas, including but not limited to energy, enterprise, environment, flood risk management, greenhouse gas emissions, housing, public engagement and transport. This research identified several findings that may be useful with respect to KPIs for the local government sector. First, capturing relevant metrics on process or policy indicators is an important first step in ensuring appropriate frameworks or policies are in place to begin with so that the sector can understand what initial supports or practices are necessary. Without such a framework, the outcome indicators identified herein may prove challenging to measure. Second, where performance metrics are initially developed, simplicity at the outset is essential. However, being equally ambitious in choosing metrics, and in capturing and improving climate action performance, is also important to ensure commitments and targets detailed in national climate change policy are fulfilled. And finally, whilst these indicators represent the most relevant metrics applicable to the sector, it is important to recognise the evolving nature of climate policy at both EU and national levels. Periodic reviews of indicators to ensure they remain relevant, are aligned with international best practice, and are applicable to current policy and local authority operations would therefore prove beneficial. The findings identified within this report may support the local government sector to deliver on its national climate action commitments and in demonstrating public sector climate action leadership.

With climate change already being experienced in many countries worldwide there is growing acceptance that significant, far-reaching actions are required to minimise its impacts. To effectively respond to the challenge the Irish Government, under its Climate Action Plan published in June 2019, committed the State to achieve ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction levels by 2030 in line with legally binding EU commitments, with national net zero emissions committed to by 2050. Within the Climate Action Plan public sector bodies, including local authorities, are required to lead in the delivery of fundamental changes in how they operate and in how they provide public services to support State ambitions regarding climate action. The local government sector, as a key public sector body, therefore has a crucial role to play in national climate action commitments. Employing the use of a detailed questionnaire and case studies across all local authorities nationally, the aim of this research was to quantify the role of local authorities in delivering climate change actions between 2011 and 2018. Whilst the results from this report represent only a snapshot in time of local authority achievements with respect to climate action, the research finds that the local government sector has been proactive in many areas, providing a range of services to the public, including critical infrastructure, flood risk management and water resources, as well as nature-based solutions and public engagement, each of which have delivered positive climate actions. This is in addition to publication of a Local Authority Adaptation Strategy across each local authority in September 2019, committing each local authority to specific adaptation targets between 2019 and 2024. Taken together, the findings show that local authorities prioritise different needs and therefore implement different climate actions based on prevailing climate change risks in their jurisdictions. Specifically, in the context of critical infrastructure, between 2011 and 2017 innovations in local authority energy efficiencies prevented over 60,000 tonnes of CO2 from being produced – equivalent to the CO2 emissions produced by approximately 11,000 Irish homes annually. In addition, the National Public Lighting Upgrade Project being advanced by the sector is expected to avoid 31,000 tonnes of CO2 annually once completed, saving the equivalent of the annual CO2 produced by more than 5,600 homes. Efforts to mitigate climate change have also been achieved in electric vehicle and cycling infrastructure, with some local authorities reporting 15% of their vehicle fleet as electric, and more than 260 electric vehicle charging points for the public available on local authority property at 2018 year end. Cycling infrastructure also continues to expand across local authorities, with approximately 14,000 bicycling parking spaces installed by the local authority sector nationally and more than 1,500km of segregated cycle lanes across local authorities at 2018 year end. Where flood risk management and water resources are concerned, local authorities collaborated with the Office of Public Works on 21 major flood defence schemes and delivered a further 228 smaller flood defence schemes between 2014 and 2018, with local authorities investing approximately ¤12.4 million of funding towards flood defences. Local authorities also spent approximately ¤101 million in responding to emergencies following extreme weather events between 2014 and 2018 when the impacts of extreme weather events arose. Local authorities also demonstrated significant commitment towards nature-based climate change solutions. They planted approximately 74,000 trees between 2017-2018 and implemented a significant number of nature-based policies with specific climate actions, including policies dealing with invasive alien species, managing trees and urban woodlands, developing green infrastructure and public open spaces and parks, and reducing pesticide usage. Many of these policies are supplementary measures, which local authorities have advanced in addition to their statutory requirements under biodiversity management. Finally, the findings show that, through public engagement across those actions that can impact upon climate change, local authorities provided over 2,400 allotments and 97 community gardens for public use in 2018. Moreover, they supported 884 towns and neighbourhoods in 2018 through the Tidy Towns programme, many of which undertook specific climate actions such as increasing biodiversity and tree planting. The study highlighted that many local authorities are also training employees, communities and social housing residents to reduce their climate change impact and save energy as part of the sector’s commitment to encourage public action. The local government sector is expected to play a critical role under the government’s Climate Action Plan, which sets ambitious and binding climate action targets for all public sector bodies by 2030. These results act as a baseline measure, highlighting existing sectoral efforts regarding climate change. The growing importance placed on achieving measurable outcomes under the Climate Action Plan for all public service bodies means that it would prove useful for the local authority sector to begin to examine a standardised way of measuring, recording and reporting climate change actions on a frequent basis. Only then can it begin to demonstrate in a consistent, transparent and efficient manner the range of climate actions local authorities are developing, supporting national climate action efforts in the process.

Growing evidence suggests that adaptation will form a key component of successfully responding to climate change risks. Discussions surrounding adaptation have, until recently, placed emphasis on incremental change as a means of dealing with climate risks. However, increased attention is now being paid to transformative adaptation given the current scale of climate change impacts. Owing to its recent introduction into adaptation discussions however, little is known about the challenges associated with attempting transformative change. This thesis addresses this shortcoming. Specifically, it examines i) how and why barriers to transformative adaptation emerge; ii) how place disruption, place attachment and perceptions of governance processes are understood in response to transformative change and; iii) how incremental adaptation proceeds when transformation fails, using two case study locations of flood risk management in Ireland as examples of adaptation in practice (Clontarf, County Dublin and Skibbereen, County Cork). Employing in-depth qualitative and quantitative research methods, this thesis finds that i) barriers to transformative adaptation do not differ from those associated with incremental adaptation; ii) place attachment is strongest in individuals who perceive governance processes as inadequate, and neither flood experience nor flood risk affect strength of place attachment, support for flood defences or perceptions of governance processes, and; iii) even relatively modest incremental adaptation measures can prove extremely contentious and difficult to implement where transformation fails, particularly when past learnings are not embedded into governance practices. The findings have important implications for adaptation policy and planning. First, climate change threatens both tangible and intangible assets. Whilst current adaptation policies account for tangible assets in assessing the merits of adaptation strategies (e.g. economic damages from flooding), there exists a prevailing need to also explicitly consider intangible assets (e.g. cultural values). Second, knowledge co-production is likely to prove crucial as single actors rarely possess the knowledge, resources or legitimacy to address complex global environmental challenges. And finally, there is substantial merit in integrating virtual technologies to enhance information management between stakeholders in adaptation planning, helping to assist in eliciting emotional responses from individuals and making an abstract concept like climate change locally relevant. Moreover, they highlight the need for broad societal transformations to mitigate future climate change, helping to reduce risk and the need for adaptation in the first instance. The findings emphasize the interconnected and compounding nature of many barriers associated with both incremental and transformative adaptation, and some of the primary issues which decision-makers and communities are likely to have to contend with unless fundamental changes are made to both societal and governance practices concerning climate change and adaptation planning.