Vol. 557 No. 1
428 Mr. Cuffe asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government his estimate for the amount of carbon dioxide released per person here each year; the implications this has for carbon dioxide emission targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21412/02]
In 2000, which is the most recent year for which complete data are available, emissions for the full basket of greenhouse gases as reported by the EPA to the United Nations framework convention secretariat and to the European Commission were 67 million tonnes (Mt) CO2 equivalent, of which CO2 was 43.9 Mt CO2. On the basis of the Central Statistics Office estimate of population for 2000 of 3,786,900 persons, the annual emissions in 2000 of CO2 equivalent per person were 17.7 tonnes and of CO2 were 11.6 tonnes.
The Government's national climate change strategy, published in November 2000, sets a ten year framework for achieving the necessary greenhouse gas emissions reductions to ensure that Ireland complies with the Kyoto Protocol.
I am satisfied that full implementation of the national climate change strategy over the remainder of the decade, together with any additional measures which may be identified in periodic review of the strategy, will ensure that our Kyoto obligations are fully met by the 2008 to 2012 period. The national climate change strategy is available in the Oireachtas Library.
