Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 April 2022
462. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Transport his vision for the future for enabling the transport sector to meet its obligations while complying with international agreements affecting the industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21279/22]
View answerAs regards the transport sector’s international climate obligations, my vision for the transport sector is for a carbon neutral sector by 2050 per the UN Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal. The Climate Action Plan 2021 sets out the concrete actions to deliver on the overall objective of reducing transport emissions by 2030 in line with both our national and these international obligations.
The actions focus on four key areas:
- Sustainable Mobility – helping people choose sustainable options and delivering 500,000 additional daily public transport and active travel journeys - a 14% increase.
- Electrification – accelerating the pace of Electric Vehicle (EV) take-up, almost 1 million EVs in the private transport fleet by 2030. Increasing public transport, including rail and bus electrification, to reduce reliance on fossil fuelled transport.
- Demand management – introducing measures at national, regional and local level to manage travel demand more efficiently and reducing the remaining fossil fuelled car kms by approximately 10%.
- Increased biofuels mix - increasing the proportion of biofuels to a 20% blend for diesel and 10% for petrol, to reduce emissions from the existing fleet.
- The revised National Development Plan (NDP) also aligns transport investment plans with climate objectives and has dedicated €1bn towards decarbonisation of transport in the period out to 2030. This funding will assist the transport sector to reduce its carbon emissions and to transform our communities into healthier places to live. Funding is being prioritised to encourage a shift from private cars to active and public transport options and to encourage greater take-up of EVs over the next ten years.
- In December 2021, my department published the National Investment Framework for Transport in Ireland (NIFTI) which sets out four strategic priorities for investment in land transport, one of which is decarbonisation. Future transport investment projects will have to demonstrate their fit with NIFTI, the National Planning Framework and National Strategic Outcomes.
- In addition, the National Sustainable Mobility Policy was published in March 2022. It sets out a strategic framework to 2030 for active travel and public transport to support Ireland’s overall requirement to achieve a 51% reduction in carbon emissions by the end of this decade.
- In support of EV adoption, a draft National EV Charging Infrastructure Strategy was published on March 31, 2022, which seeks to prioritise the delivery of fast and rapid charge point infrastructure over the next three years. The Strategy makes several recommendations in relation to the actions, funding streams and supports that will be put in place by Government to deliver a seamless publicly accessible charging network.
- International Aviation Emissions are not included in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement and measures to mitigate emissions in that sector are taken at EU and ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) level. ICAO’s ‘basket of measures’ aims to reduce emissions through Market-based Measures, Operational Improvements, Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and Improved Aircraft Technology. Several of the EU’s Fit for 55 proposals aim to reduce aviation emissions. These include, inter alia, the ReFuelEU Initiative which will mandate fuel suppliers to blend increasing amounts of SAF with kerosene between 2025 and 2050 and the Revision of the ETS for Aviation which aims to abolish the free allowances currently granted to airlines and integrate, as appropriate, CORSIA, ICAO’s global aviation emission offsetting scheme with the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS).
- When taken together, these plans, along with a wide range of Government supports, will enable the transport sector to meet its international obligations on climate change.
