[ Cork City Development Plan 2022-2028, Section 15(2) Two-Year Progress Report ]
SEA Interim Monitoring Report for the Cork City Development Plan 2022-2028 Two-Year Progress Review
for other Air Quality Monitoring Stations across the country. There have been no exceedances of NO 2 or O 3 reported by the EPA’s Air Quality Bulletin at Air Quality Monitoring Stations in Cork City thus far in 2024 (up until 30/4). Interventions positively impacting upon the protection/management of air quality are being made by the Council at both strategic and project levels through various initiatives, including: the progression of active travel and sustainable mobility interventions (refer to detail provided under subsection “Active Travel and Sustainable Mobility” above); the Cork City Climate Action Plan 2024; and locally-based actions to adapt to a changing climate and reduce emissions towards making Cork City a more sustainable place to live, work and visit. Cork City Council identified that significant improvements in NO 2 levels are observed during Car Free Day in the inner city. No issues have been identified that would indicate: that effects do not correspond with the predictions of environmental effects made by the 2021/2022 SEA of the Plan (see Section 2 of this report); or unforeseen effects arising from implementation of the Plan, alone or in combination with other plans or programmes. Climatic Factors Progress has been achieved in implementing the Development Plan provisions relating to climate action, such as increased active travel and sustainable mobility interventions (refer to detail provided under subsection “Active Travel and Sustainable Mobility” above), energy efficient public lighting and increased sustainable energy usage, nature-based solutions and flood risk management. The Cork City Climate Change Adaptation Strategy 2019-2024 has 66 actions, 57 of which are ongoing. The completed actions (1.1–1.4, 1.6, 1.8, 4.2, 5.1, and 13.5) notably include the appointment of a team of dedicated climate-action staff and the roll-out of climate-change training programmes for all staff. Some of the ongoing actions are long-term projects, such as actions 6.3 or 8.2. Given the multi- faceted nature of many actions, some aspects of a single action have been completed while others are ongoing or obsolete, e.g. action 8.4. Many other actions (e.g. actions 6.3, 13.1, 13.5, or 13.6) have been subsumed into plans such as the Cork City Climate Action Plan 2024-2029, the Cork City Heritage and Biodiversity Plan 2021-2026, or the Cork City Tree Strategy. Until 2024, Cork City Council’s climate response was guided by the Adaptation Strategy. In February 2024, Cork City Council adopted the Cork City Climate Action Plan 2024-2029. As a statutory instrument, the National Climate Action Plan is now the primary reference for climate mitigation and adaptation actions, and it aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030. The Cork City Climate Action Plan includes, updates, and develops many elements of the Adaptation Strategy, while also including multiple new actions to address climate change. The Climate Action Plan includes an action (1.18) to subsume relevant ongoing actions from the Adaptation Strategy at the end of 2024. Cork is participating in the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission initiative, which is supporting 112 cities across the EU and beyond to become climate neutral by 2030. The Mission and associated opportunities through EU funding programmes will help the designated cities to accelerate their journeys to net zero carbon. In 2023, as part of the preparation of the Climate Action Plan, the Council commissioned a study to establish a baseline for the City’s greenhouse gas emissions. The Climate Action Plan identifies the following greenhouse gas emission amounts for 2018: c. 987 kt CO 2 eq of greenhouse gas emissions in total; c. 332 kt CO 2 eq or c. 34% of total emissions from the residential/household sector c. 290 kt CO 2 eq or c. 29% of total emissions from road transport; c. 216 kt CO 2 eq or c. 22% of total emissions from the commercial services and industry sector; c. 65 kt CO 2 eq or c. 7% of total emissions from the public services sector c. 62 kt CO 2 eq or c. 6% of total emissions from the agriculture, land use and fishing sector
CAAS for Cork City Council
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