Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 March 2017
747. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the steps he is taking to ensure that Ireland's views on the European non ETS carbon emission scheme are represented in EU level negotiations on this scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11403/17]
View answerThe Paris Agreement, which entered into force in November 2016, aims to limit global average temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, with an ambition of 1.5 degrees Celsius. The Agreement is designed to meet this objective through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted by all parties to the agreement. In this regard, the European Union submitted an NDC committing to a reduction of at least 40% in EU-wide emissions by 2030 compared with 1990 levels, which will be met through reductions of 43% in the Emission Trading System (ETS) and 30% in the non-ETS sector compared with 2005 levels. A proposal on the non-ETS targets for individual Member States, the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR), was published by the European Commission in July 2016. Targets have been proposed for Member States based on GDP per capita and the cost-effectiveness of domestic emissions reductions within individual Member States.
In the case of Ireland a target of 39% has been proposed, which has been adjusted downwards to 30% to reflect cost-effectiveness of measures within the Irish economy. The European Commission proposals are the subject of ongoing negotiations in the Council of Ministers and in the European Parliament. The outcome of these negotiations will determine Ireland’s contribution to the overall EU 2030 effort. It is, nevertheless, already clear that meeting the proposed targets for Ireland will present an enormous challenge, requiring very substantial public and private investment in addition to a board suite of non-financial policy interventions.
I will shortly be publishing a draft of Ireland’s first National Mitigation Plan for public consultation which will set out a series of options for additional measures towards meeting the proposed targets for Ireland for 2030 as well as to put Ireland on a pathway towards transitioning to a low carbon, climate resilient and environmentally sustainable economy by 2050.
