Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 February 2021
18. Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the specific measures and actions that have been undertaken between 2010 and 2020 towards reducing Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions under the 2020 EU effort sharing decision; the extent to which these measures were successful; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6211/21]
View answerThe 2009 EU Effort Sharing Decision (ESD) established binding annual greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for 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 value in 2005. According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s latest emissions report, published in January 2021, our 2020 emissions covered by our ESD target are estimated to be 7-8% below 2005 levels. Therefore, Ireland will need to avail of flexibilities in order to comply with our obligations under the ESD. The emissions in respect of the ESD sector for 2010 were 44.5 Mt CO2eq, 42.8 in 2013 Mt CO2eq increasing to 45.7 Mt CO2eq in 2019. The most recent EPA report projects 2020 emissions in the sector as 43.9 Mt CO2eq. The extent of the challenge to reduce emissions was reflected in the National Policy Position on Climate Action and Low Carbon Development, published in April 2014, and in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015. The National Policy Position provided a high-level policy direction for the adoption and implementation by Government of plans to enable the State to move to a low carbon economy by 2050, while statutory authority for the plans was set out in the 2015 Act. This led to the development of Ireland’s National Mitigation Plan, published in 2017, and National Adaptation Framework, published in 2018. In 2019, Ireland’s first Climate Action Plan was published. The ambition in 2019 Plan was further increased in the Programme for Government which sets out an ambitious course of action over the coming years to address the climate crisis. The Programme for Government commitments will be reflected in the updated Climate Action Plan to be finalised later this year.
Some of the keys measures and actions that have contributed to mitigation of carbon emissions over the past decade include:
Emission standards for vehicles introduced by the EU;
- Increasing the use of biofuels to contribute to the growth of renewable energy and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector;
- Energy efficient schemes in both domestic and commercial buildings, and
- the introduction of building standard regulations.
It is clear that heretofore Ireland has not sufficiently reduced it’s non-ETS green house gas emissions and a step change in ambition commenced in the 2019 climate action plan. I plan to bring forward a whole of government climate action plan that will, on a whole economy basis, reduce Irelands Green House gas emissions by 51% by 2030 from a 2018 baseline.
