EPA - Ireland's Environment, An Integrated Assessment - 2020

Ireland’s Environment – An Integrated Assessment 2020 Figure 11.1  Trends in transport carbon dioxide emissions, energy by final consumption and in the economy by gross national income at constant market prices (Source: SEAI 2019b and CSO 2019a) 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Year 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2017 2016 2018 0% 50% 100% 150% 200% 250% 300% Gross National Income Transport Carbon Dioxide Transport Energy Greenhouse Gas Emissions While transport is a key sector globally for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the scale of the challenge is even more pronounced in Ireland. Table 11.1 shows that in 2018 Ireland’s transport emissions per capita were the fourth highest in the EU-27, and well above the average. EPA data show that transport is Ireland’s second largest emitter, behind agriculture, at 20.3 per cent of the national total emissions, or 12.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2019 (EPA, 2020f). Even though these data exclude international aviation, consistent with international reporting convention, emissions still grew by 137 per cent between 1990 and 2019. The urgency of addressing climate change led to the Paris Agreement of 2015, which aims to limit global temperature increases to well below 2°C and close to 1.5°C. Increasing national transport emissions contribute to the difficulty in meeting our emissions reduction targets, towards this ultimate goal. Excluding international flights, transport accounts for 27 per cent of the emissions that need to be reduced to meet emission reduction targets to 2020 and 2030. Continuing growth of emissions highlights the need for further progress and additional measures, such as those announced in the 2019 Climate Action Plan, to achieve a long-term low- carbon climate-neutral economy. The stated ambition for climate neutrality by 2050 implies that Ireland will need to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from land transport almost entirely by then. Table 11.1  Transport carbon dioxide emissions per capita, Rank in EU-27, 2018 (Sources: Crippa et al., 2019; Eurostat, 2020) RANK STATE CARBON DIOXIDE PER CAPITA (TONNES) 1 Luxembourg 10.23 2 Austria 2.77 3 Slovenia 2.76 4 Ireland 2.51 5 Belgium 2.31 – EU average 1.80 282