New climate officer for Westmeath

Westmeath County Council has appointed an official whose role will be to help local communities do their part to help Ireland transition to carbon-neutral status.

John Jackson, the new community climate officer for Westmeath, says part of his work will involve helping community groups apply for a share of a €60m fund recently announced as part of Ireland’s new Community Climate Action Programme.

€400,000 of the fund has been earmarked for Westmeath over the next three years.

Mr Jackson, who took up the role in November, gave members of Westmeath County Council an insight into the Community Climate Action Programme at their December monthly meeting, explaining that during a “substantial process” undertaken by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) to collect views on how Ireland could transform itself, one of the key outcomes showed that citizens wanted to become more involved in the process.

Mr Jackson said Ireland is aiming to become a climate-neutral economy by 2050, balancing the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere against the amount removed by the land, forestry or technology.

“Ireland has committed to achieving an average 7% per annum reduction in overall Green house Gas emissions from 2021 to 2030,” he stated, explaining that the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 will support Ireland’s achievement of climate neutral economy no later than 2050.

Mr Jackson told the meeting that in order to provide the communities with the support required to achieve local activation, the Community Climate Action Programme was launched by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications.

The objective of the programme is to support and empower communities in partnership with their local authorities to shape and build low carbon sustainable communities to contribute to national climate and energy targets.

Mr Jackson explained that in launching the programme, the minister had announced an investment of €60m to go into community action projects and initiatives over three years.

To assist with the programme, and to work with local communities, a community climate officer is being appointed in every local authority.

Mr Jackson said projects under five headlines can be considered: home/energy; travel; food and waste; shopping and recycling; and local climate and environmental action.

Examples of the types of project that might qualify include small renewable energy projects such as solar, hydro and wind installations; retrofitting of community buildings; provision of community electric vehicle charging points; improving access to cycleways; safer parking; active travellers, school or community gardens to promote local food production; allotments, community composting, repair hubs, water refill stations, local recycling facilities, mini forests and pollinating projects.

Timeline

Mr Jackson said that the timeline for funding applications is quite tight: expressions of interest are being accepted at the moment, and the results are to be announced in June or July. He urged any group with suitable projects or proposals to contact him on 044-9332125 or via john.jackson@westmeathcoco.ie.

Council cathaoirleach Cllr Aengus O’Rourke was concerned over how tight the timeline is; Cllr Denis Leonard encouraged aiming as high as the community in Nova Scotia that two years had succeeded in achieving zero waste; Cllr Hazel Smyth spoke of the value of community food allotments and pocket forests; Cllr Paul Hogan sought clarification on the amount of funding that could come to Westmeath.

It was in response to Cllr Hogan that Mr Jackson revealed €400,000 of the fund has been earmarked for Westmeath over the three years. He also said there is an expectation that the deadlines will wind up being pushed out a bit.

“As a county, we have to make sure we get the best bang for our buck in terms of spending this money and as big an impact as possible across the entire county,” he stated.

Cllr Andrew Duncan welcomed the fact that qualifying groups will receive 100 per cent funding, and wondered if it would be worth having a roadshow to let communities know of the fund, while Cllr Frankie Keena was interested in what rules regarding location would apply for groups interested in providing EV chargers. Cllr Tom Farrell said it was important to get it right from the start.

Responding, Mr Jackson said there will be a roadshow but he is also happy to meet groups interested in applying.

Cllr John Shaw asked if schools and GAA clubs will be allowed to apply, while Cllr Frank McDermott said it was rare to get a grant of 100 percent funding; Cllr Liam McDaniel wanted to know who would decide on the merit of projects submitted, while Cllr Bill Collentine wondered would it be limited to one application per group.

On the question of the eligibility of schools and GAA clubs, Mr Jackson said clarity is still required on that. He said his own role would not be that of decision-maker: he would be more involved in doing “quality control” on the applications. He also believed clubs could make more than one application.