Mainstreaming Climate Change Considerations for Coastal Areas into Spatial Planning Policies at National and Regional Level; the Example of Ireland

With impacts from our warming climate unavoidable, the need to adapt to our changed circumstances has become much more urgent. While policy makers now favour the process of mainstreaming climate change considerations into existing policy frameworks to build resilience, it has been observed that mainstreaming climate adaptation requirements into development plans and policies has not led to an increase in the rolling out of physical adaptation responses or measures at national or subnational level – and this clearly indicates that an ‘implementation gap’ exists between the commitments made and the actions undertaken for climate adaptation. Noting that a strong policy framework is a critical factor for achieving effective mainstreaming, this research investigates the extent to which Ireland has mainstreamed climate adaptation considerations for its extensive and vulnerable coastline into its national and regional spatial planning strategies. An assessment of whether these spatial planning strategies can bridge the ‘implementation gap’ in coastal adaptation planning and action is also made. The research reveals that despite the exposure of the Irish coastline to negative climate change effects, a weak policy framework has resulted in few specific adaptation responses being proposed or prioritised to address coastal vulnerabilities. The major contributory factors to the weakness of the policy framework are the lack of a national coastal management strategy, the failure to adhere to existing guidance on coastal land use and the limited ability of national and regional spatial planning strategies to comply with the guiding principles of the National Adaptation Framework. The weak policy framework is hindering the mainstreaming of climate considerations into national and regional spatial planning policies and contributing to the ‘implementation gap’ that is visible between climate adaptation commitments and plans and robust actions for Irish coastal areas.