Ireland‘s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 2.2% in the first quarter of 2024, compared to the same period last year, new data from the country’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found.
The EPA made the announcement as it launched a new series of quarterly greenhouse gas emissions updates, in order to support support more frequent monitoring of progress on climate action.
Emissions from Ireland’s electricity sector decreased by 16.7% in the first quarter, due to a reduction in fossil fuel use, while agriculture emissions were down 2.6%, the EPA noted.
Elsewhere, transport emissions rose by 2.7%, driven by increased sales of petrol (+9.6%) and diesel (+1.3%) cars, while emissions from commercial and household buildings increased by 5.8%, due to increased demand for heating, coupled with a decrease in the price of gas.
‘A welcome reduction’
“The reduction of 2.2% in Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions in the first quarter of 2024, when compared with the same period last year, is welcome following the largest annual reduction in emissions outside of recession reported in 2023,” commented Dr Eimear Cotter, director of the office of evidence and Assessment, EPA.
“This shows that we can make progress in reducing our greenhouse gas emissions when concerted action is taken.”
Positive impact
Also commenting on the findings, Mary Frances Rochford, programme manager of the EPA’s Climate Programme, added that they indicate the positive impact that climate action and decarbonisation is having on Ireland’s economy, and wider society as a whole.
“We see reduced emissions from the electricity sector linked to increased renewables and interconnection, increases in emissions from heating associated with lower fuel price and cooler temperatures than quarter 1 2023,” she said. “Poor weather conditions also impacted lime application to soils which led to lower emissions from the agriculture sector.”
The Quarterly Greenhouse Gas Emissions Indicators for Q1 2024 are available on the EPA website.
Summary of Q1 2024 emissions compared to Q1 2023
| Sector | Emissions Q1 2024 (KT CO2 eq) | Comparison with Q1 2023 (kt CO2 eq) | Comparison with Q1 2023 (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 13,497 | -305.8 | -2.2 |
| Agriculture | 4,892 | -128.5 | -2.6 |
| Buildings (Commercial and Public) | 367 | 14.3 | 4.1 |
| Buildings (Residential) | 1,933 | 111.7 | 6.1 |
| Electricity | 1,561 | -311.9 | -16.7 |
| Industry | 1,398 | -69.1 | -4.7 |
| Other | 378 | -0.4 | -0.1 |
| Transport | 2,968 | 78.2 | 2.7 |
