The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, Richard Bruton T.D. today (Wednesday the 5th of December) welcomed a report by the Environment Protection Agency, which shows a small decrease in Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions in the year 2017. However, he once again highlighted the fact that Ireland is far off course to achieve the emissions targets that we have committed to, and reiterated his commitment to developing an all of government plan to make Ireland a leader in responding to climate change.
The report by the Environmental Protection Agency, found that Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 0.9 per cent in 2017 compared with 2016. The below trends were observed across the main sectors:
- Agriculture emissions increased by 2.9%
- Transport emissions decreased by 2.4%
- Power generation emissions decreased by 6.9%
- Household emissions decreased by 5.0%
Minister Bruton recently secured government approval to develop an all of government plan to make Ireland a leader in responding to climate change. He is currently working across government to develop new initiatives across a range of sectors. The focus will be on implementation, with clear lines of responsibility.
Minister Bruton said,
“I welcome the fact that Ireland’s emissions are decreasing, however we are still off course to achieve the targets we have committed to. We have stabilized usage in the residential, services and energy sectors. However, since the recovery, we haven’t succeeded in breaking the link between economic progress and emissions in the industry, agricultural and transport sectors. The reality is that we are 95% off course to deliver on our 2020 targets.
“Responding to this challenge will require a step change across government. I recently received government approval to develop an all of government plan to make Ireland a leader in responding to climate change. I am working with colleagues across government to develop new initiatives across electricity, agriculture, transport, heat, as well as a range of other sectors. The focus will be on implementation. We will identify actions with clear timelines and the steps needed to get there, and assign clear lines of responsibility for delivery. Today’s report underlines the importance of what we are seeking to do and highlights the urgency of this work.”
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