Costing climate change impacts and adaptation in Ireland

Project summary

Background

Increased flood risk as a result of climate change is a major issue for Ireland. To manage flood risk effectively more needs to be known about the economic costs of flooding and its impact on economic activities in the short, medium and long term. This will be the focus of this project. This research is supported by Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Irish Department for the Environment Community and Local Government under the EPA Research Programme 2014-2020.

The research

University College Cork (UCC) and the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) have been commissioned by the EPA to develop a framework for costing the impact of flood risk on the Irish economy and assessing the options for managing it, with a specific focus on local businesses and the insurance industry.

The framework will assist the EPA to prioritise adaptation measures. It will identify costs for specific sectors and assist with the identification of financing sources for flood risk management i.e. the share of public, private and mixed funding. There will be a particular focus on the role (current and future) of the insurance industry.

Outcomes

• Assessment of sectoral costs and benefits of climate impacts in Ireland, with a specific focus on flooding. This work will include a case study on Cork.
• Assessment of the role of insurance industry in flood risk management in Ireland
• Recommendations on funding sources for climate change adaptation action.

Publications

• Translating flood risk assessment into local urban action (published by the Whitaker Institute for Innovation and Societal Change)
• Fit for the future – The reform of flood insurance in Ireland: resolving the data controversy and supporting climate change adaptation

Press releases and press coverage

• ‘Radical shift’ in data sharing needed for sustainable flood insurance in Ireland
• Homes could be priced out of flood cover – Irish Independent

Working with stakeholders

The project is being informed by an ongoing dialogue with key stakeholders. A  number of workshops, webinars and meetings have already been held and a further workshop is planned in Cork in the spring. Email gri@lse.ac.uk if you would like to find out more about the research and future engagement opportunities.