Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

106 Chapter 4: Climate Change 10. Conclusions In Ireland, we are living in and experiencing a changing climate . The year 2023 was the hottest on record, with global temperatures warming to close to the 1.5°C limit set by the Paris Agreement. Extreme weather events in Ireland continue to highlight the vulnerability of our people, environment, infrastructure and economy to climate change impacts. However, early and rapid global action on emissions reductions is likely to leave an Irish climate that, at the end of the century, is still broadly recognisable in comparison with today. On the other hand, delaying action is very likely to result in an Irish climate that will become increasingly unrecognisable as the century progresses. The Climate Change in the Irish Mind survey tells us that Irish people want to play their part, with 90% expressing a strong sense of national responsibility to do what they can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Ireland must pick up the pace of action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to its changing and future climate. More action is needed to meet Ireland’s legally binding emissions targets, including large-scale and immediate emissions reductions across all sectors. The latest EPA assessments have highlighted the challenges that Ireland faces in achieving the scale and pace of greenhouse gas emissions reductions required to stay within its first two carbon budgets and reduce emissions by 51% relative to 2018. EPA data make it clear that reaching our national and EU 2030 targets will require the urgent identification and implementation of policies that deliver the required emissions reductions across all sectors in the short term to provide the foundation for the longer term ambition of climate neutrality. Current decarbonisation actions in Ireland are outpaced by increased energy demand across the economy and the heavy dependence on fossil fuels for energy generation (86%). This is despite the significant progress already made in increasing the share of renewable energy in our electricity sector. However, more needs to happen, particularly in the heat and transport sectors. Significant emissions reductions are also needed in agriculture, Ireland’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, and innovations to achieve reductions are emerging in areas such as feed additives and new fertilisers. Land could play a much stronger role than at present in reducing emissions, by moving from being a net source of emissions to a sink, including through a combination of enhanced afforestation on mineral soils and rewetting of drained organic soils. A continued lack of delivery of large-scale practical actions to decarbonise activities in all sectors will see an exceedance of Ireland’s first two carbon budgets. It is recognised that developing world-class infrastructure takes significant time and investment from conception to implementation. However, the time horizon for achieving national and EU commitments is getting ever shorter. The longer this is delayed, the longer it will be before we realise the significant opportunities – including the social and economic co-benefits for people, communities and business – that can be delivered through innovation and decarbonisation. Ireland needs to be resilient to ongoing and future climate change impacts. Until now, mitigation has been the main policy focus. It is important that adaptation is mainstreamed across society to address current and future climate impacts.