Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 November 2017
480. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the extent to which Ireland compares with other EU countries in terms of meeting greenhouse gas reduction targets with specific reference to the extent to which each country currently contributes to such emissions; the extent of the sacrifices each has to make meeting the target reductions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49396/17]
View answer492. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the degree to which he expects to meet carbon and other emission requirements in the current year or thereafter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49447/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 480 and 492 together.
The 2009 Effort Sharing Decision 406/2009/EC established binding annual greenhouse gas emissions targets for EU Member States for the period 2013 to 2020. For the year 2020 itself, the target set for Ireland is that emissions should be 20% below their level in 2005. This will be Ireland’s contribution to the overall EU objective to reduce its emissions by the order of 20% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. Ireland’s target is jointly the most demanding 2020 reduction target allocated to EU Member States under this Decision, which is shared only with Denmark and Luxembourg.
The Environmental Protection Agency produces detailed greenhouse gas emission projections on an annual basis for all key sectors of the economy in collaboration with relevant State and other bodies. The latest projections of greenhouse gas emissions by the EPA, published in April 2017, indicate that emissions from those sectors of the economy covered by Ireland's 2020 targets could be between 4% and 6% below 2005 levels by 2020. The projected shortfall to our targets in 2020 reflects both the constrained investment capacity over the past decade due to the economic crisis, and the extremely challenging nature of the target itself. In fact, it is now accepted that Ireland’s 2020 target was not consistent with what would be achievable on an EU wide cost-effective basis.
The legislative framework governing the EU’s 2020 emissions reductions targets includes a number of flexibility mechanisms to enable Member States to meet their annual emissions targets, including provisions to bank any excess allowances to future years and to trade allowances between Member States. Using banked allowances from the period to 2015, Ireland is projected to comply with its emissions reduction targets in each of the years 2013 to 2018. However, our cumulative emissions are expected to exceed targets for 2019 and 2020, which may result in a requirement to purchase additional allowances. While this purchasing requirement is not, at this stage, expected to be significant, further analysis will be required to quantify the likely costs involved, in light of the final amount and price of allowances required.
With regards to other Member States, a European Commission Communication published on 7 November 2017, Two years after Paris – Progress towards meeting the EU’s climate commitments (COM (2017) 646), indicated that in addition to Ireland, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg and Malta are also expected to miss their 2020 EU targets on the basis of current projections.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) report, Trends and projections in Europe 2017, published on 7 November 2017, provides an updated assessment of the progress of the European Union and its Member States towards their 2020 targets based on the latest available official projections at Member State level. This gives a detailed analysis of the position of each Member State relative to their respective targets and the extent to which each country currently contributes to total EU emissions. The report also includes analysis of progress towards EU and Member States’ renewable energy and energy efficiency targets. The report confirms that while the seven Member States referred to above are expected to miss their targets, the European Union as a whole is well on track to meet its 2020 obligations.
