While Ireland has made “real progress” towards its 2030 climate goals, the country “needs to move faster”, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Darragh O’Brien has said, after new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data showed Ireland is well ‘off-track’ to meet its targets.
Minister O’Brien was commenting as the EPA published its greenhouse gas emissions projections for the period 2024-2055, stating that Ireland is projected to achieve a reduction of 23% in emissions by 2030, far short of the 51% target.
Last year, the EPA said Ireland was set to achieve a 29% reduction in emissions by the end of the decade, but has revised its target downwards. The predicted reduction is compared to a base year of 2018.
‘Not absolute forecasts’
“We know that the EPA projections are not absolute forecasts; they reflect delivery to date,” Minister O’Brien commented, pointing to the recently agreed Climate Action Plan by the new Irish government.
“As part of our energy revolution we are delivering new interconnectors: the Greenlink interconnector to the UK is now operational, doubling Ireland’s interconnector capacity,” he said. “Construction of the Celtic interconnector to France is on track to be completed by 2026/2027 and the North-South project is advancing. These projects boost energy security and allow greater import/export of clean power.
“This is backed by concrete action: emissions fell by 6.8% in 2023. GDP has seen a six-fold increase and the population has increased by nearly 50% since 1990. Yet, emissions are lower today than they were then. That’s real decoupling of emissions from economic activity – and few countries in Europe have achieved it under similar pressure.”
O’Brien also pointed to “progress in other areas” including increased electric vehicle sales – up 23% in April alone – a “scaling up” of home retrofits, engagement with schools, and the Renewable Heat Obligation, which will seek to decarbonise heating in industry and buildings.
High-emission sectors
In its report, the EPA said that the transport, industry and buildings (residential) sectors are projected to be the furthest from their sectoral emission targets by the end of the decade, with emission reductions of up to 21%, 12% and 22% respectively.
Elsewhere, agriculture emissions are projected to reduce by up to 16%.
“Although emissions trends are going in the right direction, the gaps to our European and National emission reduction targets are now projected to be larger than last year,” EPA director general Laura Burke said. “This highlights the economy-wide effort needed to decarbonise our society and the focus must shift from policy aspiration to practical implementation.” Read more here.
