Monday, 20 October 2025
Ireland’s National Adaptation Framework (NAF): Preparing for Climate Resilience Climate change poses significant challenges for Ireland. As an island nation with extensive coastlines, changing rainfall patterns, and a largely open rural landscape, Ireland must contend with rising sea levels, more frequent flooding, storm events, shifting seasons and a range of slow‑onset impacts. The Irish Government’s […]
Climate change poses significant challenges for Ireland. As an island nation with extensive coastlines, changing rainfall patterns, and a largely open rural landscape, Ireland must contend with rising sea levels, more frequent flooding, storm events, shifting seasons and a range of slow‑onset impacts. The Irish Government’s response is encapsulated in its statutory adaptation strategy: the National Adaptation Framework (NAF). This article explores how the 2024 NAF positions Ireland for climate resilience.
In a nut-shell, the National Adaptation Framework (NAF) is Ireland’s national climate change adaptation strategy. It sets out how the country will prepare for and respond to the current and future impacts of climate change, across all levels of government, sectors of society, and regions.
The NAF is Ireland’s legally‑mandated national strategy for adaptation under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 (as amended in 2021). The second statutory iteration, published on 5 June 2024, replaces the 2018 version and sets out how the State will manage and reduce vulnerability to climate change across national, sectoral and local levels.
The 2024 NAF builds on developments since 2018 (including a statutory review in 2022) and reflects advances in climate knowledge, governance, and international policy, including the EU’s 2021 Adaptation Strategy.
While simple statements of “goals” vary, the 2024 NAF frames Ireland’s adaptation ambition through:
A vision of a climate‑resilient Ireland, where people, nature and the economy are capable of absorbing and adjusting to climate hazards;
A set of guiding principles (e.g., risk‑informed, transparent, just resilience, systems approach, mainstreaming adaptation across decision‑making) that underpin adaptation policy;
A requirement that adaptation is mainstreamed across all relevant policies, infrastructure, spatial planning, sectoral strategies and regional/local planning;
The identification of 13 priority sectors under 7 lead Government Departments, with new or updated Sectoral Adaptation Plans (SAPs) to be submitted by end of Q3 2025.
A stronger focus on outcome‑based monitoring, adaptation indicators, and investment prioritisation to ensure adaptation actions deliver measurable resilience.
Ireland’s climate is already changing: sea levels continue to rise, rainfall patterns are shifting with higher frequency of intense rainfall events, storm impacts are increasing, and slower‑onset risks (such as biodiversity loss, agricultural stress, and water scarcity) are growing.
Key vulnerabilities include:
Coastal exposure: Sea‑level rise and coastal erosion threaten low‑lying zones, urban and rural coastal communities.
Flooding and drainage: More extreme rainfall and surface water events plus river and coastal flooding means new flood planning, defence and nature‑based solutions are required.
Ecosystem and biodiversity risks: Changing habitats, shifting species ranges, increased invasive species, linked with adaptation challenges for nature.
Infrastructure and services: Critical physical systems (transport, energy, communications, water) face increased risk from extreme wind, flooding and interruption of services (as the cross‐sectoral risk assessment highlights).
Societal and health impacts: Changing climate means increased heat events, vector‑borne disease potential, mental‐health stresses, and vulnerabilities for more disadvantaged communities.
The NAF addresses adaptation in the following ways:
Under the 2024 NAF, key sectors (including agriculture, forestry & seafood; biodiversity; built & archaeological heritage; transport infrastructure; electricity & gas networks; communications networks; flood risk management; water quality and services; health; and newly tourism and built environment/planning scoping) are identified for updated SAPs. Departments must submit these by Q3 2025.
These SAPs will assess risks, set adaptation measures, integrate nature‑based solutions and ensure coherence across sectors and levels.
Local authorities (LAs) have a pivotal role. Under the Climate Act and NAF, each LA must develop or update their Local Authority Climate Action Plans (LACAPs) or adaptation strategies that link to sectoral and national planning.
The NAF emphasises capacity‑building for LAs, better resourcing, adaptation staffing, community climate action and reporting.
Chapter 2.6 of the NAF focuses on the finance mechanism for adaptation: the importance of estimating investment needs, aligning budgets, leveraging private sector co‑investment and directing funds to enable adaptation.
The NAF also emphasises climate services (via the National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS) and the Climate Ireland portal), improved evidence base, better monitoring, indicators, and a systems‐approach to risk assessment (including the upcoming national climate change risk assessment [NCCRA]).
The 2024 NAF places special emphasis on nature‑based solutions (using ecosystems and natural infrastructure to support adaptation), and on the principle of just resilience, ensuring adaptation does not deepen inequality, and protects those most vulnerable.
Examples of sectors include:
For the agriculture, forestry and seafood sector, adaptation measures will include those to manage altered rainfall and drought, shifting seasonality, changing pest and disease loads, soil resilience, water retention, and nature‑based ecosystem services. The SAP for this sector will detail relevant actions.
In the health sector, measures include preparing for heatwaves, flooding impacts on community health infrastructure, mental health support during extreme weather, and ensuring the health system is resilient to climate extremes.
Resilience of transport and energy networks to flooding, storm wind, sea‑level rise is key. The NAF emphasises both “hard” infrastructure (defences, flood walls, resilient networks) and “soft” or nature‑based measures (wetland restoration, urban green infrastructure) as part of the systems approach.
The NAF emphasises that adaptation is not solely a technical or engineering matter: it requires the engagement of multiple stakeholders – Government Departments, agencies, private sector, civil society, communities, academia and local authorities.
Good practice mechanisms include:
Public‑private partnerships to develop and finance adaptation solutions (for example resilient infrastructure, nature‑based adaptations).
Community engagement to identify local vulnerabilities, co‑design adaptation measures, implement at local scale.
Research & development, knowledge sharing and the use of climate services/tools (such as Climate Ireland, NFCS) to support decision‑making.
The 2024 NAF sets the direction for adaptation in Ireland through to 2050 and beyond. Key checkpoints include: the submission of all Sectoral Adaptation Plans by Q3 2025; ongoing monitoring via indicators; periodic review (at least every five years) of the NAF and adaptation progress; and increased prioritisation of funding and investment for adaptation.
As climate change evolves, so must adaptation. The NAF signals a shift to more integrated, outcome‑based, inclusive and flexible adaptation policy, not just reacting to the next storm, but planning pathways, building resilience across systems and ensuring the most vulnerable are protected.
Ireland’s National Adaptation Framework is a cornerstone of its climate resilience approach. The 2024 version reflects a maturing understanding of adaptation: it is not just about defence, but about transformation, of infrastructure, ecosystems, society and policy. By aligning national policy, sectoral planning and local action, and by placing emphasis on nature, equity and monitoring, Ireland is better placing itself to both survive and thrive in a changing climate. For individuals, businesses and communities, engaging with the NAF’s goals and processes offers a meaningful way to contribute to a more resilient Ireland.