Policy Briefs

Reducing domestic energy use and related carbon emissions is a priority for national and European policy. A transition toward sustainable household energy use will require radical shifts in patterns of production and consumption that can only be brought about through systemic change involving multiple actors across all levels of society. Key considerations include the development,… | Read on »

Environmental economists offer what is arguably the most internally consistent theory of sustainable development. A sustainable development path is one that maintains welfare opportunities for future generations. An economy’s “genuine savings” (GS) represent changes to the productive capacity of the economy and thus indicate the capacity for the generation of future well-being. GS goes “beyond… | Read on »

The senior generation’s resistance to alter the status quo of the existing management and ownership structure of their farm is undoubtedly strong within the farming community. This phenomenon has resulted in extraordinary socio-economic challenges for young people aspiring to embark on a career in farming. This study sets forth a series of recommendations aimed at allowing… | Read on »

Global evidence of disconnect from our natural surroundings is growing as the world’s ecosystems increasingly come under threat from human pressures, in partic-ular waterways, coasts and oceans. This in turn poses human health risks and results in the loss of potential health and wellbeing benefits associated with blue spaces i.e. outdoor water environments. Among policy,… | Read on »

In recent decades the European Union has promoted Active Ageing and the OECD has strongly encouraged governments to introduce policies designed to extend working life (EWL) as a means of addressing population ageing and anticipated increased pension costs. From 2012 onwards, Ireland has introduced several such pension reforms including raising state pension age, – now… | Read on »

Since April 2015, EU dairy farmers can expand milk production without facing restrictive milk quota constraints. This opportunity has been well received in Ireland and milk output has increased by 30 percent since quota abolition, mainly achieved through expansion on existing farms. The Irish dairy sector’s remarkable growth rate began once milk quota abolition was… | Read on »

Rising consumption and the increasing resource intensity of daily living practices are key drivers of environmental change. As a result, individual consumption and the promotion of positive pro-environmental behaviour change have become a key area of attention in European and Irish sustainable development policy. In finding ways in which environmental transitions can be achieved through… | Read on »

Most Irish wind farms have been granted a time-limited, 20 year, planning consent with a requirement to subsequently decommission. However, in the context of renewable energy targets, increasing pressure on land and opposition facing new sites, it will be important for existing sites to retain their license to operate. This could be achieved through extending… | Read on »

As the planet changes to a more urbanised landscape, it is predicted that 60% of the world’s population will reside within cities by the year 2030. With the increase of urbanisation, also comes a greater risk of pollution entering urban waterways. Surface waters such as rivers, canals and lakes are considered productive ecosystems with unique… | Read on »

Data used to model decision-making behaviour commonly comes from one of two sources, subjective data or objective data. Subjective data is generally based on users experience of a good, whereas objective data may come from a range of source including scientific measures and management/expert opinion. The use of either source of data requires a trade-off;… | Read on »