Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 23 Apr 1996

Vol. 464 No. 3

Written Answers. - Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

Liam Fitzgerald

Question:

69 Mr. L. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for the Environment whether the objective to meet the commitment made in the 1992 Climate Change Convention to return Ireland's emissions of greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by the year 2000 will be met; if not, the additional steps, if any, that are being considered in order to meet this target; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8054/96]

Minister for the Environment (Mr. Howlin)

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which has been ratified jointly by the EU and its member states, calls on developed countries, inter alia, to aim to return, individually or jointly, greenhouse gas emissions to their 1990 levels. In accordance with this joint commitment, the EU objective is to stabilise emissions of CO2, the main greenhouse gas, at their 1990 levels by the year 2000. As part of this policy, it is recognised that emissions in some member states will increase in line with their economic and social development requirements.

Ireland, as its contribution to the achievement of the EU objective, is committed to limiting the growth in CO2 emissions in the year 2000 to 20 per cent over their 1990 levels. CO2 emissions in 1994 were 6.8 per cent higher than in 1990. National policies and measures to contribute to the mitigation of climate change have been set out in the national CO2 abatement strategy, 1993, and the national communication under the framework convention on climate change, 1994. These address a number of areas including energy, transport, forestry and waste management. The intensification of existing policies and measures, as well as the development of new ones, is being considered in the context of current negotiations to strengthen convention commitments.