On the basis of emissions levels as reported by the EPA to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat, increases in greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector were 107% in the period 1990 – the base year for commitments under the Kyoto Protocol – to 2000, the highest of any sector. The Government's national climate change strategy, published in November 2000, sets a ten year framework for achieving the necessary greenhouse gas reductions to ensure that Ireland complies with the Kyoto Protocol, including a range of measures in the transport sector relating to improved fuel efficiency, achieving modal shift and promoting demand management measures. A copy of the strategy, and the progress report on its implementation, published in May 2002, are available in the Oireachtas Library.
The lead Department for the implementation of greenhouse gas reduction measures in the transport sector is the Department of Transport with other Departments, including my own, responsible for certain measures. In so far as my Department is concerned the progress report identified that reductions of 380,000 tonnes of CO2 are achievable by 2010 from fuel economy labelling for new cars, implemented by my Department in 2001. My Department is currently examining the relationship of car tax to CO2 emissions and is addressing the issues of equality, real emissions reduction and revenue safeguarding in this regard. At international level, car manufacturers in Europe, Japan and Korea entered into voluntary agreements with the European Commission to reduce average emissions of CO2 from new cars to an average of 140g CO2/km by 2008 and 2009, reductions of 25% below 1995 levels.
I am committed to promoting the use of environmentally clean fuels and my Department liaises with the Departments of Finance and Transport in this regard. However, information available to my Department suggests that while LPG fuelled vehicles may have the potential to reduce NOx and particulates, the main components of urban pollution from vehicles, CO2 emissions from LPG fuelled engines are only marginally lower than emissions from petrol engines and may be no lower than emissions from diesel engines. Continuing emissions increases due to volume growth in the economy mean that implementation of the strategy must be intensified, and I have initiated a review in that regard which I expect to finalise by mid-year. I am satisfied that full implementation of the national climate change strategy over the remainder of the decade, together with any additional measures which may be identified in the review, will ensure that our Kyoto obligations are fully met by the 2008-2012 period.
