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Environmental Challenges and Priorities
137
Limiting and
Adapting to Climate
Change
There have been substantial
reductions in Ireland’s greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions in recent years
due in a significant part to the
economic downturn. Ireland is on
track to meet its Kyoto commitment;
however, compliance comes with
a cost, as this will require use of
carbon credits already purchased
by the State and/or taking unused
allowances from the EU Emissions
Trading Scheme (ETS) into account.
Further targets under the EU’s Effort
Sharing Decision commit Ireland
to a 20% reduction in greenhouse
gas emissions by 2020 (relative to
2005 levels) for non-ETS sectors.
However, projections by the EPA
predict that even in the best case
scenario, Ireland’s non-ETS emissions
will exceed annual obligations
under the EU 2020 target by 2017.
This best-case scenario includes
ambitious assumptions on the
full implementation of relevant
Government policies on, for example,
renewable energy and energy
efficiency. Failure to deliver on the
measures outlined in Government
policies will result in higher emissions
than currently predicted.
Transport and agriculture are the two
key sectors, which are predicted to
account for 75% of non-ETS sector
emissions in 2020. Ireland faces
considerable challenges in developing
cost-effective and environmentally
effective policies for these sectors
given their importance to the economy
and the limited availability of low-cost
solutions. Latest projections indicate
that through full implementation of
all foreseen mitigation measures, a
small reduction in transport emissions
is achievable by 2020. However,
Ireland’s unique position within the
EU as the country with the highest
national proportion of agriculture
emissions will present major challenges
in meeting future emission reduction
targets. In particular, under the
ambitious targets of the
Food Harvest
2020
strategy (DAFF, 2010),
emissions from the agriculture sector
are projected to increase by 7%
between 2010 and 2020. Teagasc
have recently highlighted technical
opportunities in the agriculture sector
which would help mitigate against
increasing emissions from agriculture
(Teagasc, 2012). These measures
include achieving improvements in
nitrogen use efficiency, genetic
improvements in livestock and
extended grazing season. However,
implementing these measures will
require behavioural and cultural
changes at farm level. Educational tools
and advisory programmes will need to
be established to realise the full
potential of these measures.
Recent research on Ireland’s national
adaptive capacity shows that the
country is in the early stages of the
adaptation process (Shine & Desmond,
2011) and recommends concerted
action to integrate climate change
into policies, plans, programmes and
projects at all levels of government
and across all sectors. To achieve this,
a national framework for adaptation
is required to provide a strategic
focus for the development of actions
by various agencies and sectors.
Ireland cannot rely on recession to
meet long term carbon reduction
requirements and needs to refocus as
a low-carbon economy while also
ensuring that development is resilient
to the impending consequences of
climate change.
Clean Air
Air quality in Ireland continues to
be good and remains among the
best in Europe. This is due largely
to prevailing clean Atlantic air and
a lack of large cities and heavy
industry. In 2010, measured values
for key pollutants were below the
limit and target values set out in
the legislation. However, levels of
particulate matter and nitrogen
dioxide remain of concern; and
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
may be a problem pollutant in the
future. Over the past decade levels of
particulate matter have decreased in
cities and large urban areas, arising
principally from improvements in
vehicle engine technology. This
decrease is not seen in smaller
towns, where domestic solid fuel
emissions are more significant than
traffic emissions. Many towns do
not benefit from the ban on smoky
coal, and often do not have access
to cleaner fuel alternatives such as
natural gas.