Vol. 501 No. 6
273 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 48 and 59 of 28 January 1999 Ireland's level of CO2 emissions as defined under the Kyoto Protocol; and the way in which this level of emission relates to the target of having a level of emissions at 20 per cent above the 1990 levels by the year 2000. [6697/99]
Ireland is committed, under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, to limiting the increase in CO2 emissions to 20 per cent above 1990 levels by 2000 as part of the overall EU commitment to stabilise CO2 emissions at their 1990 levels by 2000. Under the Kyoto Protocol, Ireland has undertaken to limit its increase in a basket of six greenhouse gases, including CO2, to 13 per cent above 1990 levels by the period 2008-12.
Data prepared by the EPA for 1996, the latest date for which finalised data are available, show that the net increase for the greenhouse gas emissions covered by the Kyoto Protocol was 3.9 per cent above 1990 levels. These data also show that the increase in CO2 emissions above 1990 levels was 13.3 per cent.
