Ireland’s first-ever carbon budgets, for the period up to 2025, are the focus of a three-day discussion at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Climate Action (JOCECA) this week.
Published in October 2021, the carbon budgets were referred to the JOCECA in December 2021 by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan. At the same time, the minister opened a period of public consultation on the proposals, with submissions being accepted until February 8, 2022.
Today (January 12) marks day two of the JOCECA which will hear from Prof. John Sweeney from Maynooth University; Profs. Barry McMullin and Paul Price from Dublin City University; and Prof. Kevin Anderson from the University of Manchester.
Tomorrow, the Irish Farmers’ Association will be present at the third and final meeting this week.
These carbon budget stakeholder meetings precede a JOCECA meeting with senior civil servants in selected government departments next week.
On day one, yesterday (January 11), representatives of the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) were present at the JOCECA including Prof. Brian Ó Gallachóir, University College Cork (UCC); Dr. Hannah Daly, UCC; Dr. David Styles (University of Limerick); Trevor Donnellan and Dr. Kevin Hanrahan from Teagasc; Prof. Lisa Ryan, University College Dublin; Patricia King (ICTU), Prof. Peter Thorne (MU), along with chair of the CCAC, Marie Donnelly.
In his opening statement, Prof. Ó Gallachóir, who is one of 15 individuals from the CCAC to sit on the Carbon Budget Committee outlined the process involved in the development of Ireland’s first carbon budgets.
The CCAC agreed in March 2021, he explained, to establish the Carbon Budget Committee to provide recommendations for carbon budget proposals prior to the council’s final submission to government.
The committee met more than 15 times between March and September 2021 and drafted its carbon budgets based on criteria set out in legislation, namely the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act and the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Amendment Bill.
“The most significant factor underpinning the proposed carbon budgets is the obligation under the Climate Act to achieve a 51% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 relative to 2018 levels,” he said.
“In addition, the committee also considered the implications for energy use and supply, for agriculture and land-use, alignment with EU policy and with the Paris Agreement, and the economic and societal implications of the carbon budgets.”
But, Prof. Ó Gallachóir said he was confident that the carbon budgets proposed by the council represent the optimum balance between the various obligations they were required to consider by the Climate Act.
He explained that the committee drew on analysis in the form of modelling results, technical papers and presentations that were prepared for the committee on a range of topics relevant to the formation of the carbon budgets, namely the:
- Implications of different sectoral emissions reduction pathways on the energy system (UCC), on agriculture (Teagasc), on land use and forestry (UL);
- Alignment of proposed national carbon budgets with EU 2030 Fit for 55 proposed emissions reduction targets for Ireland (UCC);
- Economic and employment and distributional implications of carbon budgets (ESRI, UCD, TCD, McKinsey) which also informed considerations of climate justice;
- Implications of the Paris Agreement on Ireland’s carbon budgets (UCC and DCU);
- The potential impacts of climate action on biodiversity (TCD).
The committee also considered the recently published IPCC working group report, the latest Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) GHG emissions projections and the latest available information regarding mitigation technologies and costs.
“The ambition mandated by the legislation represents a significant step change beyond current climate mitigation policies and measures,” he said.
“This step change in ambition is reflected in the proposed carbon budgets, and will require rapid and sustained economic, social and technological transformation across all sectors of the economy.
“The carbon budgets were developed and proposed during 2021 – in year one of the first carbon budget period. We are now in year two,” he said.
“I would encourage the Joint Oireachtas Committee to recommend that these carbon budgets be adopted, and further to ensure that the necessary urgency is directed at developing and implementing the policy supports and regulations to enable Ireland to remain within these carbon budgets.
Committee chair, Deputy Brian Leddin said the JOCECA looks forward to engaging with the stakeholders to discuss the process and research that was taken into account when forming the carbon budgets.
“We will also consider the departments’ role in delivering the budgets and how the budgets intersect with the climate plan, and whether the budgets are consistent with national objectives for reducing emissions, international best practice and with due regard given to climate justice.”
Tomorrow, (January 13), the meeting will hear from representatives of the National Economic and Social Council, Chambers Ireland, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Social Justice Ireland, The Environmental Pillar and the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA).