Ireland has made progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) but the rate of reduction remains insufficient to meet the targets established.
Current projections by the EPA indicate that Ireland's emissions are expected to exceed the national target in 2030.
In 2023, Ireland still ranked among the highest emitters of GHG emissions per capita within the EU.
The C&AG report noted that even if all the measures set out in the Climate Action Plan are implemented, Ireland’s emissions will still exceed the binding target set in the Effort Sharing Regulation.
By 2030, Ireland will likely need to purchase substantial emissions allocations from other EU member states, which will result in significant financial liabilities and compliance-related costs to the Exchequer.
The EPA’s latest GHG emissions projections, for the period 2024 - 2055, indicates that Ireland is significantly off track to meet its legally binding climate targets for 2030.
The EPA projects a maximum reduction of 23% by 2030 compared to 2018.
In 2023, Ireland emitted 58.8 million tonnes of CO2 across various sectors, with agriculture being the largest contributor.
Sectoral emissions in the energy industries sector showed a decrease of 21.4% in 2023 which is attributable to reductions in coal (-44.2%) fuel oil (-78.0%) and natural gas use (–6.8%) in electricity generation.
There was a substantial increase in the amount of imported electricity, accounting for 9.5% of electricity supply in 2023.
Read more: Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions down, but further reductions needed - EPA
Renewable share increased from 39% to 41%. Imported electricity is now 9.5%. while agriculture reduced -4.9% and transport increased 0.3%.
Approximately 28% of new car registrations were electric in 2023, with 110,000 EVs overall on Irish roads.
This was offset by a 3% increase in the size of the national vehicle fleet. Nevertheless, emissions for the sector were 4.3% below pre-Covid levels.
There was an 18% decrease in fertiliser nitrogen use, which resulted in less emissions from agricultural soils. Dairy herd numbers increased by 0.6% in 2023, but milk output per cow decreased by 4.5%.
Under the Renewable Energy Directive, Ireland is required to maintain a baseline minimum of renewable sources delivering 16% of annual gross final consumption of energy (for electricity generation, transport and heating and cooling), rising to a 43% renewables share by 2030.
The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland reported that the renewable energy share in 2023 - at 14.6%, was substantially below both the baseline and the trajectory required to achieve the 2030 target.
The latest EPA projections indicate that even with the implementation of all planned additional measures, Ireland’s cumulative emissions 2021-2030 will still exceed the target level, for that period, by 47.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent
