Ireland Expected To Miss Emissions Target

The latest Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) projections show that Ireland is unlikely to meet its annual obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 2017 onwards, despite the fall-off in emissions associated with the economic downturn.

Under the EU’s climate targets, Ireland is legally bound to deliver a 20 per cent reduction in its carbon footprint by 2020. However, the EPA said yesterday Ireland was unlikely to meet its carbon reduction requirements from 2017 onwards, even in “the best-case scenario”, which takes account of existing and planned policy initiatives.

The agency’s projection suggested the State would breach its target by between 4.1 and 7.8 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2020. However, the upper end of the prediction for 2020 was less than the 8.8 million tonnes predicted by the EPA last year.

The EPA’s director general, Laura Burke, said: “The projections show a reduction in Ireland’s distance to target under the Kyoto Protocol and the EU 2020 targets. This reflects a combination of the effects of the economic recession as well as assumptions on the full implementation of relevant Government policies.”

She warned, “Ireland cannot rely on recession to meet our long-term carbon reduction requirements, and needs to develop as a low-carbon economy”.

(H)