They’re complex, congested and heavy on carbon emissions, but that hasn’t stopped Ireland’s two largest cities from setting themselves the highest challenge in climate action.
Dublin and Cork are among 112 pilot cities selected to take part in one of the European Union’s most ambitious targets – to become climate neutral by 2030, two decades ahead of the bloc’s wider net-zero target.
They were chosen by the European Commission in 2022 to participate in the EU mission for climate-neutral and smart cities.
In May last year, both cities submitted a detailed contract outlining how they intended to cut emissions, finance projects, change public behaviour and mobilise businesses towards the transition, and were in turn awarded the ‘EU mission label’, giving them access to financial support, and a lending envelope put in place by the European Investment Bank (EIB). But can they do it?
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The commission has acknowledged the scale of the challenge, with officials stating in its implementation plan that the “main obstacle” to the transition is “not a lack of climate-friendly and smart technologies, but the capacity to implement them”.
Cities account for more than 70 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions and are home to 75 per cent of EU citizens, making urban areas central to the EU’s climate ambitions. A special report on climate change and cities is due to be completed by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change next year to focus on what it will take to tackle this particular issue globally. But plans in Dublin and Cork suggest the transition will require sweeping changes across areas including transport, housing, energy systems and more.
The award agreement, obtained by The Irish Times under freedom-of-information legislation, shows the EU will provide €1 million in support to Dublin and Cork for execution of the project.
For Cork City Council, that amounts to €257,000 in subcontracting work, €31,000 in personnel costs, €6,000 in travel and subsistence, and €30,000 for “other goods, works and services”.
For Dublin City Council, it amounts to €90,000 in personnel costs, €118,000 in equipment, and €125,000 for ‘other goods, works and services’. The remainder is provided to University College Cork and University College Dublin to support the project.
While the amounts are modest for trying to transform a city, it is understood the intention is to help local authorities firm up their ideas so they can make their best pitch for national funds and attract investment through private-public partnerships.
Dublin’s plan outlines ambitions to place 95 per cent of its residents within 400m of an active travel network to make it easier for people to walk and cycle, retrofit social housing and public buildings, and develop special decarbonisation zones in Ringsend, Poolbeg and Ballymun.
Among its flagship projects are plans to regenerate various flat complexes, including the Lower Dominick Street flat complex which was built in the 1960s and is now subject to a large-scale retrofit project, rather than being demolished and rebuilt. “The most sustainable building is the one we already have,” the contract states.
Cork’s plans include aiming to achieve at least an 80 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030 (compared with 2018 levels), and to adapt to “increased frequency and intensity of all types of flood risk”, heatwaves and other climate issues, which it anticipates are “expected to cause increased loss and damage to the city’s finances, heritage and society”.
Cork’s climate contract identifies the city’s domestic and commercial buildings as the single largest emissions source, together accounting for more than half (56 per cent) of emissions. One of its main objectives is to decarbonise 80 per cent of its domestic and commercial building stock through retrofitting and construction of new net-zero homes.
But the estimated cost of this runs into billions – about €3.8 billion, excluding €1.6 billion in Government incentives, according to the contract.
The plan also acknowledges major systemic barriers, noting that Ireland has one of the most centralised decision-making systems on funding in Europe. Analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2022 highlights that less than 10 per cent of overall funding is allocated at the local level, for example, limiting the ability of local authorities to independently finance climate action.
Public funding alone, the European Commission’s implementation plan states, “will not be enough to achieve climate neutrality by 2030″. Cities will need multiple financial mechanisms, and leveraging private finance will be “essential”, it says.
Peter Medway, climate action co-ordinator at Cork City Council, appreciates the scale of the challenge.
“We’re early stages. Some of the mission cities, like Stockholm and Copenhagen, are advanced in their mission, having been doing this for over 20 years. In Ireland we’re coming to climate action much later than that,” he said.
The main draw of being part of the EU pilot programme was the potential for the council to use its new status when applying for funds. Cork has been successful recently in obtaining some grants from Horizon Europe – the EU’s main funding programme for research and innovation – as well as €2 million from the EIB to accelerate its retrofitting programme from about 150 houses a year to a target of 300 per year over the coming years.
“Those are positive early signs that having this status is beneficial to us,” Medway said. “The changes we need to see in the city don’t just happen because of high levels of ambition. We need to mobilise and we need funding.
“We estimated that if we as a city were to invest €14.5 billion euro largely in a built environment and the electrification of the transport system by 2030 we would reach net zero.”
Where would such a large injection of funding come from? About 30 per cent of it would be public investment – spending on projects such as improvements in public infrastructure and the Cork metropolitan transport strategy.
“A good proportion of that funding is earmarked in the Government’s long-term spending commitments,” Medway said.
“But what we’re saying to Government now is how can you help us accelerate and bring forward that investment so we can see the benefits quicker.”
As for the rest of the funding, Medway says there is a significant role for the private sector in providing it.
Cork City Council owns only about 2 per cent of the assets in the city. The vast majority of assets such as buildings and vehicles are owned privately – by businesses and households.
“If you own a house or vehicle, then it’s about how can we help and encourage people to make choices to decarbonise their homes and choose an electric vehicle next time,” Medway said.
“So this is a whole of city effort, not just a city council project.”
Getting businesses and households on board is a challenge at a time when the cost of living is rising and there is a general air of instability and concerns about European security.
“There are lots of competing priorities,” Medway said. “But we’re trying to maintain the climate crisis in people’s minds.”
Cork has many projects ongoing, including retrofitting of social housing and the improvement of the bus network, but at the current stage of implementation, it is too early to measure material impact on the city’s emissions.
Nationally, progress in cutting emissions is slow with latest forecasts showing the country can expect to achieve a 25 per cent reduction by 2030 – a long way off the 51 per cent target and very far indeed from net zero.
Can cities move faster? The next five years will determine whether the pilot experiment is a workable model not only for Dublin, Cork and the other participating cities, but the remainder of the EU’s cities in the future.
