Darren O'Rourke
Question:176. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Transport if he will outline his plans to address the 6% increase in transport emissions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36711/23]
View answerTuesday, 25 July 2023
Questions (176, 256)
Ivana Bacik
Question:256. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Transport his views on the increase in transport emissions in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36831/23]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 176 and 256 together.
Whilst Ireland's Provisional Greenhouse Gas Emissions 1990-2022, recently published by the EPA, shows reductions across almost all of our economic sectors, transport was the sector of the economy where an increase in greenhouse gas emissions is estimated - at 6% or 0.66 Mt CO2eq in 2022 compared to 2021. This is not unexpected; as people resumed their commutes following COVID restrictions, as our economy grew, as we returned to full employment and as we continued to see population growth.
It is worth noting that the structure for the sector’s decarbonisation pathway is naturally skewed to deliver the greatest share of emissions abatement in the second half of this decade, as the level of EV uptake accelerates, and major public transport infrastructure and services continue to be rolled out. It is also worth noting that Transport emissions in 2022 are 4.6% below the ‘pre COVID’ levels from 2019, indicating an overall downward trajectory.
Nevertheless, the latest estimates underpin the continuing challenge and scale of the systemic and behavioural transformation required to meet our transport emissions abatement targets. We must continue to make further progress, accelerating the switch to public transport and active travel, as well as transitioning our car fleet to EVs.
The Transport chapter of CAP23 reflects both the level of challenge and the systemic change required to deliver 50% emission abatement in the sector, alongside a vision for the wider wellbeing co-benefits that can be achieved through such transformation of our transport system. An updated transport decarbonisation pathway has been informed by two core analyses of the Irish transport system undertaken over the past year:
a. The OECD report Redesigning Ireland’s Transport for Net Zero, undertaken at the request of the Climate Change Advisory Council; and
b. Transport modelling, undertaken by the National Transport Authority to identify the level of change required to achieve 50% emission abatement by 2030 and to inform policy design.
The OECD report finds that the Irish transport system embeds car-dependency and increased emissions by design. In recognition of this, Climate Action Plan 2023 has already applied the AVOID-SHIFT-IMPROVE (ASI) framework for transport sustainability in developing and grouping all actions, and in emphasising the crucial role of spatial and land-use planning in designing transport systems to support our net-zero ambition. The Department of Transport has identified 15 key ‘high impact’ work programmes under which actions have been grouped in accordance with the AVOID-SHIFT-IMPROVE framework. These work programmes consolidate, build on, and support a number of related Departmental strategies, action plans, and Programme for Government commitments, such as the Sustainable Mobility Policy Action Plan and Pathfinder Programme, the Road Safety Strategy, the Road Haulage Strategy and EV Charging Infrastructure Strategy.
In this context, things are already changing.
- We are delivering one new or enhanced Connecting Ireland service into our towns and villages every week, and we have introduced the first fare reduction in 75 years to encourage and facilitate greater uptake of our public transport services.
- We’ve seen nearly 300,000 Young Adult Cards issued since they were introduced last May. Patronage on Local Link bus services is now over 51,000 every week – up a massive 82% since this time last year. Average daily passenger numbers on bus and rail are just short of 800,000 – a 27% increase on last year.
- The recent CSO Census data shows that, while levels of transport demand are up on 2016 levels, we are seeing encouraging changes in behavioural trends and an appetite for change when the right type of investments and decisions are made at local and national level.
- The percentage of primary school children being driven to school is down for the first time ever – from almost 60% in 2016 to 55%, with 88% more primary school children cycling to school than in 2016, with post-primary levels of cycling also up 79%.
The Department of Transport remains committed to delivering upon an ambitious pathway to decarbonisation, as evidenced in the transport chapter of the Climate Action Plan 2023.