The Keynote Address was given by Minister Eamon Ryan who then joined by the conference chair John FitzGerald, MRIA for a brief discussion and Q&A.
Panel One: ‘Policy Outlook’ was chaired by Marie Donnelly, Chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council, and featured presentations and contributions from Brian Carroll, DECC, Professor Peter Thorne, MU, and Kerrie Sheehan, SEAI.
This conference showcased cutting-edge thinking on efficiency, decarbonisation and sustainability in electricity, transport and heating.
By addressing climate action from an engineering perspective, this conference encourages debate and discussion and highlights areas that are of strategic importance as Ireland strives to reach its 2030 Climate Action Plan targets. Ireland’s decarbonisation pathway to 2030 as set out in the Climate Action Plan requires that ambitious targets be met in electricity, transport and heating by 2030. This programme of transformation is now urgent as the 2020 targets fell significantly short for transport and heating, while renewable energy in electricity was progressing. There is growing pressure politically and from civic society to accelerate progress to achieve the targets.
With COP26 now scheduled to take place in Glasgow in November 2021, this conference provides a timely opportunity to identify how the challenges to implementing the Paris Agreement can be addressed in Ireland by green infrastructure and technologies and by economic and social strategies. Thought leaders from industry, academia and the public sector will present innovative ideas and discuss climate action strategies under the following headings:
- Policy outlook
- Planning electricity and heat
- Energy efficiency and buildings
- Sustainable transport and behavioural change
This Royal Irish Academy conference was organised by the Engineering and Computer Sciences Committee in collaboration with the Climate Change and Environmental Sciences Committee, and was supported by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and the Environmental Protection Agency.
