Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 May 2021
116. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Transport his plans to review further the impact that lower speed limits can have as part of a national roads policy in the context of carbon emissions and climate targets. [27772/21]
View answerThe Programme for Government contains a commitment to review and reduce speed limits, where appropriate, to address both road safety issues and carbon emissions, and ensure greater compliance.
The science is unequivocal; we must urgently deliver ambitious and effective emission reduction measures to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement and ultimately stabilise global temperatures. In Ireland, we are embedding our commitment to tackling climate change into our national legislation. When adopted, the Climate Action Bill 2021 will mandate carbon budgets for the Irish economy as a whole and will set binding sectoral carbon ceilings—thus ensuring continual long-term planning towards the realisation of Ireland’s 2050 net-zero emission vision. The Climate Action Bill will also legislate for annual Climate Action Plans and Long-Term Climate Action Strategies. These plans will set out a credible pathway to achieving on our Programme for Government commitment to an average 7% per annum reduction in emissions from 2021 to 2030, and to delivering a zero-carbon society by 2050.
Development of Climate Action Plan 2021 is currently underway and at circa 20% of national emissions there can be no doubt that the transport sector must significantly contribute to the national decarbonisation objective and half its emissions by 2030 in line with Programme for Government commitments. We need to take emissions out the movement of people and goods, while still recognising that our transport systems are pivotal in the development of sustainable communities and cities. To achieve this, all potential mitigation measures, including the role of speed limits, are under review. It is expected that Climate Action Plan 2021 will be published later this summer with a detailed breakdown of planned transport mitigation measures and corresponding actions. Thereafter, to ensure transparency and accountability all sectors will report on their climate action progress quarterly.
