Transboundary Climate Risks for Island of Ireland (TCRII)

    Taking a risk-based approach this project will explore the key cross-border, transboundary and international impacts of climate change for the Island of Ireland. In doing so it will identify transboundary synergies that can be developed in terms of information and policy solutions to build the resilience of mutually significant sectors that face similar challenges and opportunities. The project includes an inventory of impacts of common climate risks (e.g. coasts, water resources, invasive species, air quality, impacts on energy and transport infrastructure) on an all-island basis and presents common solutions. Moreover, a critical component of the research is an identification and analysis, on a risk basis, of the implications of climate change for Ireland given interconnected global societies (e.g. migration, conflict, displacement), ecosystems and economies. In doing so this innovative project will provide the evidence necessary to improve our knowledge systems and inform policy decisions that will advance our ambitions to be carbon neutral and resilient to climate disruption.

    Project outputs will include:

    • Comprehensive reviews of: (a) European and international and (b) Irish literature on transboundary climate impacts and risks to ground the project in the state of the art as a vital first step in developing the vulnerability and resilience analysis
    • A complementary assessment of All-Island Transboundary Synergy Opportunities will also be produced
    • A ground-truthed vulnerability and resilience report and associated workshop report
    • A comprehensive best practice report on transboundary climate policy development will be provided with best practice criteria identified
    • The project will produce at least one international journal publication and the work will be presented at an international conference
    • A policy briefing document to provide a summarised and accessible version of research findings
    • A recommendations report for sustaining the research agenda post project

    Interlinked project work packages:

    WP1 – Coordination and Management

    WP2 – State of the Art Literature Review

    WP3 – Vulnerability and Resilience Analysis

    WP4 – Policy Analysis

    WP5 – Communication and Dissemination

    The project is led by Dr. Conor Murphy with Dr. Stephen Flood as Lead Researcher and funded by the Environmental Protection Agency of Ireland. Commencing in January 2022, the project will run for twelve months. Updates on progress and key outputs will be provided here.