Eoin Harcourt

Dublin’s Transition Towards A Resilient Future

The European Union and Ireland have made significant commitments to mitigate climate change, with a particular focus on transitioning towards renewable energy sources and reducing reliance on fossil fuels for energy production. Transitioning to renewable energy production is a critical step in mitigating the impacts of climate change, but it alone won’t guarantee a resilient future. Adaptation to the unavoidable impacts of climate change must be integrated into a broader, interconnected framework to ensure resilience.

The European Commission’s adoption of the new EU strategy on adaptation to climate change on 24 February 2021 represents a strategy that aims to make adaptation efforts smarter, faster, and more systemic, reflecting a comprehensive approach to building resilience across the European Union. Smarter adaptation using up to date scientific data and risk assessment tools, faster adaptation focuses on developing and rolling out adaptation solutions to help reduce climate-related risk and a more systemic implementation of adaptation strategies and plans at all levels of governance with connectivity within them (European Commission, 2021).