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Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change
31
Conclusion and
Future Challenges
Ireland requires action to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and to
adapt to climate-change impacts. A
long-term strategic plan for Ireland
to transition to a low-emission, climate-
resilient society and economy by
2050 is required, which encompasses
key UN and EU goals such as the EU
Commission’s 2050 Roadmap. Ireland
also needs to be at the forefront
of adopting new approaches and
low-carbon technologies, particularly
in the transport and agriculture
sectors, that will be effective in the
national context.
In the short term Ireland must take
appropriate actions to ensure that
annual emissions targets over the
period 2013–2020 are not exceeded.
These actions include meeting existing
sectoral targets and commitments,
for example in
Delivering a Sustainable
Energy Future for Ireland
; the National
Bioenergy Action Plan; the National
Energy Efficiency Action Plan; and
Smarter Travel - A Sustainable
Transport Future. It is of particular
importance that the implementation
of
Food Harvest 2020
takes place in
a sustainable manner, to ensure that
any increase in greenhouse gas
emissions from the agriculture sector
is addressed and does not
overburden other key sectors.
It is also essential that Ireland reduce
its dependence on fossil fuels while
ensuring that significant increases
are achieved in the use of alternative
energy sources (wind, ocean, biomass
and others). Considerable improvements
in energy efficiency are also needed
as envisaged in the
National Energy
Efficiency Action Plan
. Due to the
long investment cycles for major
infrastructure, the role of research
will be crucial in identifying cost-
effective pathways to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions from
energy, agriculture and transport.
To avoid significant adverse
climate-change impacts over
the coming decades, a concerted
approach involving both adaptation
and mitigation is required, with
mainstreaming of climate-change
issues into future investment and
planning decisions. Even if global
GHG levels were reduced now, some
impacts would be unavoidable due
to the lifespan of certain GHGs in
the atmosphere. National, local and
regional development plans must
be climate-proofed to minimise the
unavoidable effects of climate-related
impacts. Through its research programme
the EPA is providing expert input
to develop a National Adaptation
Strategy for Ireland in conjunction with
relevant Government departments,
to identify the main risks posed and
how best they can be managed.
References
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