Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

29 Chapter 1: Introduction Table 1.1  Changes in environmental indicators in Ireland over the past 25 years PARAMETER 1998 2023 Greenhouse gas emissions (Mt) 65.5 55.0 Sulphur dioxide emissions (kt) 179 9.5 Discharges of untreated sewage (no.) 95 (1996) 16 Operational landfills (no.) 125 (1996) 3 Municipal waste generated (Mt) 3.0 3.2 Municipal waste recovered (Mt) 0.7 2.6 (2021) Air quality exceedances (days) a 59 0 Bathing water compliance (%) 98.5% 97% VTEC (incidence per 100,000 population) 1.4 (1999) 19.2 (2022) a Days when particulate matter levels exceeded 50 μg/m 3 at one monitoring station in Dublin city centre. No exceedances recorded anywhere nationwide in 2023. Source: VTEC incidence compiled from NDSC (1999) and HPSC (2024). All other data compiled from various EPA data and publications 4. Public perceptions and the environment Protecting our environment and becoming a more climate-neutral and climate-resilient society may often require policies and measures that place unwelcome demands on the public. Therefore, the better informed the public is on environmental matters and issues, the more likely it is that these policies and measures will be supported. The environmental issues of most concern to Irish citizens in three Europe-wide surveys carried out over the past 16 years include climate change, water pollution and waste, followed by disasters caused by human activities and air pollution (Figure 1.3). Biodiversity loss (species decline) became more of a concern in the 2020 survey.