Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

359 Chapter 13: Environment and Industry Many industries in Ireland are working together to improve the overall quality of water. An example of this is Water Stewardship Ireland, 26 a voluntary, industry- led network of companies that enables businesses to access peer-to-peer expertise, water stewardship innovations and programmes, international certification and research insights. Working in partnership with Irish and European agencies (regulatory and developmental), key national stakeholders and industry, Water Stewardship Ireland consists of 300 of the largest production and service facilities across Ireland, all working to deliver improved water quality and make efficient use of water in their operations. Many of the recent examples of going beyond compliance in Ireland overlap with other national policies. For example, the drive to decarbonise industry and reduce emissions, in keeping with the national Climate Action Plan, has been a common goal of such projects, where companies have adopted the use of solar technologies. While enhancing environmental management systems and actively working towards going beyond compliance is welcome, it is important that industry first establishes a stable and consistent compliance base from which to work. Some industry sectors have moved into optimised systems with ease, while others have not maintained basic-level compliance. 9. Industry and climate action The European Green Deal commits to delivering net- zero greenhouse gas emissions at the EU level by 2050, with Ireland committed to achieving a 51% reduction in emissions from 2021 to 2030. Ireland’s commitments are set out in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021. Together, the ETS and ESR (described in Section 2 above) will facilitate the achievement of the EU-wide target of at least a 55% greenhouse gas emissions reduction by 2030 (DECC, 2024). Emissions from industry have broadly aligned with economic activity; however, there are some positive signs of a decrease in manufacturing combustion emissions from economic growth, with emissions having decreased by 7.1% in 2022 relative to 2021 and, overall, by 9.1% relative to 2018. 26 www.waterstewardshipireland.com (accessed 15 July 2024). The Climate Action Plan outlines the actions required to be taken, including implementing carbon budgets and emission reduction targets and ceilings on a sectoral basis (DECC, 2024). The sectoral emissions ceiling for industry in the 2021-2025 carbon budget period is set at 30 Mt CO 2 eq (megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) and proposed to be reduced to 24 Mt CO 2 eq for the 2026-2030 budget period. Current projections show that industrial sector emissions are currently not aligned to Ireland’s reduction targets. The EPA’s 2023 National Inventory Report shows that 66.7% of the budget has been used in the first 3 years. To meet the sectoral emissions ceiling in the first budgetary period, the industry sector will now need to achieve average reductions of 14% in 2024-2025 (EPA, 2024b). The Climate Action Plan 2024 sets out key performance indicators to be realised by industry to achieve the requisite carbon abatement in each budget period. These include: ■ reduce fossil fuel use in the industry sector from 64% of final consumption (2018) to 45% by 2025. Reduce to 30% of final consumption by 2030 ■ achieve a 50-55% share of carbon-neutral heating in total fuel demand by 2025, increasing to a 70-75% share by 2030 ■ reduce industry fossil fuel demand by 7% by 2025 and 10% by 2030 by adopting energy-efficient measures in manufacturing processes ■ achieve at least 1 TWh (terawatt hour) consumption of zero-emissions gas for industrial heating by 2025, increasing to 2.1 TWh consumption by 2030. Manufacturing combustion emissions are projected to reduce by between 6% and 22% from 2021 to 2030 with the implementation of efficiency measures and renewable heat generation. However, industrial process emissions are projected to increase by 5% from 2021 to 2030 due to an anticipated increase in cement production (EPA, 2024c). At present, the policy approach is to transition industry to clean energy using voluntary and incentive-based instruments. The specific areas where industry needs to take action include carbon-neutral heating, carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS), use of zero-emissions gas and improved energy efficiency. Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland are working with industry to decarbonise the sector’s operations, and many incentive schemes are being made available to industry to bring about this change. Over €55 million has been made available through the Emissions Reduction Investment Fund (€30 million) and the Climate Planning Fund for Business (€25 million).