National Climate Change Risk Assessment

The EPA is leading in the provision of a National Climate Change Risk Assessment. National climate change risk assessments (NCCRAs) are aimed at supporting planning for adaptation to and mitigation of climate change impacts - providing insights into the solutions needed to inform the climate change adaptation planning process.

The process should set out the priority impacts of climate change for Ireland which will provide a basis for making decisions on whether risks are acceptable to society or communities. It will then determine how risks can be reduced and how potential opportunities can be realised.

This will be a systematic semi-quantitative iterative risk assessment process that supports identification, assessment, and prioritisation of climate change risks that are underpinned by consistent climate information and accounts for uncertainty in climate projections.

Process

The methodology is due to be published in Q2 2024 and the final report along with all accompanying reports and summary for policymakers in Q1 2025.

Outcomes

• Put in place a robust, common method to improve the standard of national and sectoral climate change risk assessment in Ireland;
• Identify and comparatively assess risks within and across sectors – including cascading, transboundary and cross-cutting risks;
• Ensure risks outside existing adaptation sectors are captured;
• Inform standardised adaptation planning and investment by producing a prioritised list of climate change risks at a national level, and
• Identify linkages between other plans, policies and risk assessments.