Make a difference by managing climate risks, reducing our impact on the environment, promoting biodiversity and capturing the opportunities that sustainability can bring.

Climate change impacts on multiple levels across Irish Lights operations. Our Climate Action Roadmap sets out the specific measures required to achieve our climate change objectives. Irish Lights will be one of the organisations most affected by the negative impacts of climate change. Our buoys and coastal infrastructure will be directly impacted by changing weather patterns, sea level rise, and flooding events. Our users and the coastal communities in which we operate will also suffer adverse effects. We are already experiencing some of these impacts. As well as increasing the challenge of maintaining a reliable service for our users, these events can significantly increase the cost of maintaining our coastal assets.

Irish Lights has a comprehensive Sustainability Strategy and Action Plan adopted in 2023 which sets out a vision for sustainability with detailed objectives, goals and timelines which are monitored and reported, bringing sustainability into the mainstream both from an operational and governance perspective. We have commenced the introduction of an environmental management system to ISO14001 standard as part of an integrated Health, Safety, Quality and Environmental management system. This will monitor compliance with environmental legislation building on the baseline compliance audit of our activities carried out in 2022. This allows us to monitor and continuously improve in areas such as environmental emissions, waste management, resource management, water discharge, noise and biodiversity.

Statutory measures to address the climate crisis, and to protect our marine environment, while essential and welcome, also bring a requirement for increased resources to ensure compliance and a requirement for additional funding. As part of this strategy, opportunities to partner with other organisations to secure funding will be pursued where mutual benefits are clear.

Irish Lights, through this strategy, will continue to strongly support the Climate Action Plan, the implementation of the Birds and Habitats Directives, compliance with environmental legislation and measures to protect, secure and improve our coastal environment and biodiversity aligned to the National Biodiversity Plan.

 Strategic Objectives 2025-2030

1. Ensure that climate, environmental, sustainability and biodiversity goals are incorporated into AtoN service provision and day to day operations.
2. Monitor and adapt to climate and sustainability needs and implement technologies and approaches that reduce environmental impact.
3. Achieve high standards of sustainable practise and comply with applicable legislation.
4. Support research and monitoring to build up a knowledge base to understand the impacts of climate and biodiversity change, assess impact on assets and operations and adapt or mitigate where possible.
5. Design and implement a ‘Manage for Nature and Biodiversity Programme’ to deliver value to the public and biodiversity enhancement at key sites.
6. Secure third-party funds where possible to enable required works.