Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

445 Chapter 16: Environmental Policy Implementation and Performance As detailed in Chapter 4, Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions per capita are among the highest in the EU. The EPA’s latest provisional greenhouse gas emissions report for 2023, published in July 2024, presents some more positive news, noting that Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 6.8% (4.0 Mt CO 2 eq (megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent)) in 2023, with reductions in almost all sectors (EPA, 2024b). This represents the lowest level of greenhouse gas emissions in three decades and is below the 1990 baseline. The sectors showing the largest single-year reductions were the energy and agriculture sectors, while residential emissions in 2023 were at their lowest since 1990 and transport emissions were below pre-COVID-19 levels. In terms of target compliance, Ireland complied with its EU Effort Sharing Regulation ((EU) 2023/857) commitments for 2021-2023 with the use of permitted flexibilities; however, Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 were still only 10.1% below 2005 levels, well short of Ireland’s EU Effort Sharing Regulation reduction commitment of 42% by 2030. Chapter 4 also identifies that the implementation of climate adaptation measures is currently too slow and fragmented. It notes that more cross-sectoral and integrated adaptation actions can deliver multiple benefits and achieve just and equitable resilience. Land use, land use change and forestry. Emissions from the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector in 2023 were 12.0% above those in 1990. The contribution of Ireland’s forest land sector to the removal of CO 2 from the atmosphere has reduced because of a long-term decline in the area of land afforested annually, an increase in the amount harvested and increased emissions from forestry on organic soils. Overall, Ireland’s LULUCF sector currently releases more greenhouse gases than it stores, and Ireland is not on track to meet its 2030 target for net carbon removals through LULUCF. The European Commission notes that efforts need to be accelerated to expand Ireland’s relatively small forested area, improve soil management and enhance peatland rehabilitation in order to improve the LULUCF sector’s contribution to carbon sequestration (EC, 2024). Transport. Decarbonising the transport sector will be critical to Ireland meeting its obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, progress to date has been slow. In parallel to a rapid reduction in travel demand and a shift to more sustainable modes of transport, the Commission notes that Ireland needs to accelerate the deployment of electric vehicles and the recharging infrastructure (Ireland has about one publicly accessible charging point for every 23 electric vehicles, far fewer than the EU average of one for every ten vehicles) (EC, 2024). Energy. While Ireland’s renewable energy share has increased from 10.7% in 2018 (reported in the last State of the Environment Report) to 13.1% in 2022, this is the lowest level in the EU (well below the EU average of 23.0%), and Ireland is not on track to meet the EU-wide binding target of 42.5% renewable energy share by 2030. Reaching the target of 80% renewable electricity by 2030, while ensuring a stable energy supply, will require new capacity, a more flexible grid and increased interconnectivity (EC, 2024). Energy efficiency is also a key component of achieving climate objectives; however, improvements in Ireland are lagging. Despite comprehensive energy saving programmes, primary energy consumption increased by 4.5% between 2012 and 2021 and by 3.7% year-on-year from 2021 to 2022 (EC, 2024). Ireland’s efforts are therefore not on track to achieve the EU-wide target of reducing final energy consumption by 11.7% by 2030. The priority actions for Ireland to address climate change, identified in the Commission’s EIR 2022, are listed in Topic Box 16.1. Topic Box 16.1  Priority actions for Ireland on climate (EC, 2022) ■ Increase the uptake of renewables. ■ Decarbonise transport. ■ Improve energy efficiency in existing residential and commercial buildings. ■ Upgrade the current power infrastructure and strengthen its ability to cope with high shares of variable renewable generation. ■ Reduce non-CO 2 emissions in agriculture while enabling the agri-food industry to transition to sustainable modes of production. ■ Exercise continuous vigilance over the sustainable use of biomass and its actual impacts on carbon sinks and biodiversity due to the increasing share of biomass in the energy sector.