Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

90 Chapter 4: Climate Change Figure 4.7  Trends in greenhouse gas emissions between 1990 and 2023 for the largest sectors in (a) kilotonnes CO 2 equivalent and (b) as percentages ˜ Agriculture ˜ Transport ˜ Energy industries ˜ Residential ˜ Manufacturing combustion ˜ Industrial processes ˜ Other sectors 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 2023 2020 2010 2000 1990 Kilotonnes CO 2 eq 37.8% 37.4% 30.7% 31.0% 36.8% 21.4% 18.1% 18.7% 15.7% 9.2% 14.3% 15.0% 21.8% 23.5% 20.4% 9.7% 12.7% 14.5% 10.4% 13.6% 7.5% 8.0% 6.7% 7.9% 7.3% 3.9% 3.7% 2.4% 5.4% 5.7% 5.4% 5.1% 5.2% 6.1% 7.0% Year Year 0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 23 20 15 10 05 00 95 90 (a) (b) Source: EPA, 2024b National greenhouse gas emissions comprise emissions released from the sectors covered by the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) and those outside the system. The ETS covers large stationary combustion emissions such as those from power generation, cement production and aviation. Emissions from sectors outside the ETS are known as Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) emissions, which include emissions from the agriculture, transport and residential sectors. Since 2005, Ireland’s emissions that fall within the scope of the ETS have decreased by 45.7% or 10.25 Mt CO 2 eq, with electricity generators and cement plants responsible for the majority of the decrease. In contrast, emissions under the ESR decreased by 10.1% or 4.82 Mt CO 2 eq over the period 2005-2023. In terms of sectors, agriculture is the largest contributor to overall emissions, accounting for 37.8% of total emissions (excluding LULUCF). The transport and energy industries are the second and third largest contributors at 21.4% and 14.3%, respectively. Residential and manufacturing combustion emissions account for 9.7% and 7.5%, respectively. These five sectors accounted for 90.7% of total national emissions in 2023. The remainder is made up by the industrial processes sector at 3.9%, fluorinated gases at 1.3%, commercial services at 1.3%, public services at 1.2% and waste at 1.5%. Figure 4.7 shows the contributions from the key sectors from 1990 to 2023. Compliance with national commitments Three carbon budgets for the period up to 2035 have been approved by the Oireachtas and came into force on 6 April 2022 (DECC, 2022): ■ Budget 1 from 2021 to 2025 has been set at 295 Mt CO 2 eq ■ Budget 2 from 2026 to 2030 has been set at 200 Mt CO 2 eq ■ Budget 3 from 2031 to 2035 has been set at 151 Mt CO 2 eq. Figure 4.8 illustrates a linear emissions reduction trajectory towards achieving the 51% reduction target, along with the extent to which the first carbon budget (for the period 2021-2025) has been ‘used up’ based on emissions between 2021 and 2023.