Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 January 2021
63. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the status of the work of the Climate Action Forum (details supplied); the number of times the forum has met since its creation; the Ministers who have met under the forum since its creation; the projects that have been undertaken; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44763/20]
View answerIn December 2019 Ireland, Denmark and Sweden announced the creation of a Climate Action Forum in which the three countries would share ideas, information and best practice. The aim is to pool experience, offer leadership and encourage others to take action on global warming at European level. All three countries face similar challenges from climate change, and cooperation allows common solutions to be developed. All three countries fully support the enhanced ambition at EU level to increase the EU 2030 target to at least 55% emissions reduction compared to 1990 levels and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Ireland is one of 10 countries (including Denmark and Sweden) who signed a joint statement ahead of the European Council in December on strengthening EU climate ambition and agreeing on increasing the 2030 climate target to “at least 55 percent”.
In December, I took part in a webinar with colleagues from Sweden and Denmark where we discussed climate neutral targets and how the respective countries are approaching climate neutrality, including an overview of types of green initiatives in response to the European Green Deal.
In terms of Ireland’s climate ambition, the Programme for Government sets out our ambition to more than halve our carbon emissions over the course of the decade. The action we take in the coming years will be critical in order to address the climate crisis, which renders our current economic model redundant and threatens our safe future on this planet. I will lead on delivering our shared commitment to achieve an average 7% per annum reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions from 2021 to 2030, and to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
