Donegal County Council is inviting people to register their interest in joining Donegal’s Decarbonising Journey.
So what exactly is it you may ask?
Is your community interested in:
• Becoming a resilient, vibrant and sustainable community?
• Reducing its carbon emissions and energy use?
• Working well together?
Under the Climate Action Plan 2019 each Local Authority is required to identify a Decarbonising Zone (DZ).
Donegal County Council is working to identify a suitable DZ that will become an exemplar for the rest of the county to develop pathways and learnings to share with other communities countywide.
This will consist of “very important test-beds” which will allow the Council to understand the scale of the challenge in decarbonising the county, including the economy and wider society, and to map out the various key stakeholders and enablers.
There will also be opportunities to explore the co-benefits of climate adaptation, and to examine a range of local measures such as climate proofing, afforestation, green and blue infrastructure, reducing heat island effects, citizen awareness and behavioural change.
Decarbonising Donegal will include wider benefits such as air quality, improved health, biodiversity, embodied carbon, lower noise levels, waste, water, and circular economy.
A whole of community approach is required to achieve the goals of the DZ, and the national and EU goals of Ireland becoming carbon neutral by 2050.
Donegal County Council will work with the DZ and communities countywide to reach these targets through:
• Providing guidance and leadership
• Helping identify and apply for funding e.g. Climate Action Fund, Ireland 2040, Community energy grants
• Developing partnerships with relevant bodies e.g. Academia, Government bodies, SEAI etc.
• Identifying a DZ in Donegal to be submitted to the Department of Local Government, Housing and Heritage by Q2 2021
• Developing the 2030 implementation plan to be submitted to Department of Local Government, Housing and Heritage by Q4 2021
• Assisting communities in developing decarbonisation actions countywide
• Promoting the establishment and development of Sustainable Energy Communities
• Supporting the establishment and development of Rivers Trusts.
The practical experience and knowledge gained from the initial demonstrator project(s) will accelerate learning throughout the county and inform and enable future decarbonisation initiatives at a replicable scale.
We encourage communities to submit information by 21st May 2021 to inform the identification of the DZ as set out above. Details captured thereafter will form part of the growing climate action network in Donegal for ongoing engagement on our decarbonisation journey.
Communities that are interested are requested to submit information on your group/areas of interest with name, contact details and any climate action / decarbonising initiatives or projects completed, ongoing, planned or being developed by sending the completed form to climatereadydonegal@donegalcoco.ie
Application form etc is available on our website through the following link;
https://www.donegalcoco.ie/services/environment/climateaction/decarbonisingzone/#d.en.28063
