Lord Mayor backs climate action plan for Cork city following council vote

THE Lord Mayor of Cork has said the city’s climate action plan, which was adopted in a full meeting of Cork City Council last night, will not just affect the our great-grandchildren but will have a positive impact on the health, wealth, and wellbeing of people living in Cork today.

The vote by councillors was the final stage in the formal adoption of the climate action plan, and will now lead to what the council said will be increased implementation of positive climate actions throughout the city.

The process of drafting the plan began last year with consultation with young people and children, community groups, businesses, public sector staff, and councillors to gauge what people in the city wanted to see in the plan.

As an initial step, the council’s recently established climate action unit assessed the city’s climate risks and gathered baseline emissions data. Simultaneously, the council commissioned environmental reports and sought to gather feedback from city residents through statistically significant independent research.

Actions

Among the actions agreed under Cork City Council’s climate action plan are:

€1.9bn on housing which, the council said, will see the provision of high-quality homes with a minimum BER rating of A2;

€190m on Cork Docklands to create “a new liveable, walkable, and welcoming community right in the city centre”;

€134m on walking and cycling facilities including the Marina Promenade upgrade and implementation of the Marina Park Phase 2 project, which the council said will support active travel and improve access to green and blue infrastructure for residents and visitors alike.

The council will establish a community leadership development programme to build the knowledge, confidence, and capacity of community groups to initiate local climate action.

Unique

Lord Mayor Kieran McCarthy said this was the first such plan produced for the city. 

“It is unique in combining actions to reduce, or mitigate, greenhouse gas emissions, and to adapt to the climate changes that are already inevitable due to past emissions.

“It is our direct response to the climate and biodiversity emergency in the city that we declared in 2019,” he said.

Cork City Council chief executive Ann Doherty said the council knew people throughout the city wanted more in terms of climate action, and it was the responsibility of everyone, at every level, to act and make this desire a reality. “The results from the Behaviour and Attitudes survey conducted during the formulation of this climate action plan speak for themselves,” she said.

“Nearly two-thirds of people want Cork to become a more sustainable place to live and work, 86% wanted more pedestrianised streets and 92% want more parks, biodiversity, and green spaces.”

Cork City Council will now publish and begin the implementation phase of its climate action plan.