Environment, Climate and Communications | Update on the positive impacts of carbon reduction measures to Ireland’s emission reduction targets

To ask the Minister for the Environment; Climate and Communications the extent to which carbon reduction measures to date are positively impacting on Ireland’s emission reduction targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

While full and final emissions data  for 2022 is not yet available, recent reports have indicated that Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions increased in 2021 and may also have increased in 2022. While EPA models for projected emissions are unable to take into account all policies and measures which have been committed to in our Climate Action Plans, the EPA’s reporting suggests a concerning trend which underlines the challenge of the climate crisis and the urgency with which we must respond.

Notwithstanding the anticipated increase in emissions in 2021 as the country emerged from the most severe Covid-19 restrictions, we must consider how to accelerate the measures and actions that will not only reduce our emissions but will also support new ways of conducting business and encouraging innovation. To reverse the current trajectory of emissions and meet our 2030 and 2050 targets, a significant shift is required in the speed at which we implement the policies, measures and actions that will decarbonise our economy and improve our indigenous supply of sustainable and renewable energy.

In December 2022, the Government published the Climate Action Plan 2023, which reflects the emissions pathways set by our carbon budgets and sectoral emission ceilings. CAP23 builds on the ambition of the 2021 Plan and sets out the policies, measures and actions needed to keep us within our carbon budgets and on the pathway to a net zero-emissions economy by no later than 2050.

Furthermore, the establishment of delivery taskforces to accelerate and drive delivery in a number of key areas regarding our climate action will serve to support our focus on accelerating the implementation of meaningful and impactful climate action.