Donegal County Council adopts Climate Action Plan 

A five-year Climate Action Plan has been adopted at a special plenary session of Donegal County Council on Wednesday.

The Local Authority Climate Action Plan (LACAP) 2024 to 2029 sets out how Donegal County Council (DCC) will be responsible for enhancing climate resilience, increasing energy efficiency, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, across its own assets, services, and infrastructure, for which it is fully accountable.

It also incorporates a broader role of influencing, advocating, and facilitating other sectors, to meet their own climate targets and ambitions. 

Projections indicate an overall increase in average temperature of between 1.1°C and 1.5°C for County Donegal
relative to the 1981-2000 period. And under a high emission scenario, projections indicate that heatwaves will become more frequent by mid-century.

The county population is expected to reach 176,500 by 2028.Letterkenny is expected to increase by 8,000 between 2016 and 2040 with the latest census already indicating a population increase of 3,275 since 2016 (17%). 

Above: Fallen trees at the Mall Ballyshannon from another Donegal weather event in 2022

Councillors were told that based on current trends, Donegal will see an increase in sea level rise, similar to what has been experienced to date, the county is also extremely vulnerable to sea level rise, due to its expansive coastline and the large number of the population that has settled on the coast.

Rising sea levels projections under a high emissions scenario indicate an increase of up to 0.20 m by 2050 which
will increase the frequency of coastal inundation.

The County experienced cold spell events on an occasional basis and heavy snowfall events on a common basis, with significant county wide events reported in 2009, 2010 and 2018.

It has also been frequently exposed to wind storms over the period 1973-2022, notable examples being Storms Ali, Barra, Desmond and Eunice. 

Impacts have been experienced across the county and primarily relate to disruption of transport, electricity and communication networks. 

Severe windstorms also result in health and safety risks, including those associated with treefall.

A number of areas are subject to frequent and recurring flooding. County Donegal has 1,235km of coastline (1,031km mainland, 204km islands). 

240km is categorised as soft coastline, of which 130km are deemed to be at risk.

In the period 1973-2022, flooding occurred on a common basis in the county with Donegal being impacted multiple times by fluvial flooding over the last two decades. The most notable impacts of pluvial flooding are direct damages to buildings and infrastructure and mobilisation of pollutants.

The county has also been exposed to heatwave event over the same period with a 

wide range of impacts. 

The most notable and costly impact relates to repair and maintenance of road surfaces and responding to uncontrolled fires. In addition, Donegal has experienced drought conditions over the period for example the drought events in 2007 and July 2018, with 

heatwaves also recorded in 2021 and 2022. One example was boiling tar in Killyclug.

The plan states that the council has an important role in the delivery of both climate 

mitigation and adaptation measures, which frames Ireland’s legally binding climate ambition, to deliver a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 51% by 2030. 

This will place the country on a trajectory to achieving climate neutrality by the end of 2050. 

The Council is also collaborating through partnership with our neighbours in Northern Ireland, most notably through the North West Climate Action Framework which has been established with Derry City and Strabane District Council.

The plan was formally proposed by Cllr Barry Sweeny of Fine Gael and seconded by Cllr Ciaran Brogan of Fianna Fail.