Emissions ceilings for the first two carbon budgets will be published in the coming weeks, according to a spokesperson for the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC).
It is understood that the maximum amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that can be produced by each sector – including agriculture – during each of the two carbon budget periods (up to 2030) will be made known then.
While the overall emissions reduction targets for each sector have now been set, the maximum amounts of GHG emissions that can by emitted by sectors during the period from 2021-2025 and from 2026-2030 are yet to be published by the DECC.
The first two carbon budgets should provide for a reduction of 51% in the total amount of GHG emissions by the end of decade, based on 2018 emissions figures.
As part of that, agriculture will have to reduce its emissions by 25% by the end of the decade, over the course of both carbon budgets.
An analysis used in the preparation of setting these ceilings for the carbon budget periods will also be published in the coming weeks, the DECC added.
The government has previously been criticised by the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC), which said that the quantified sectoral emissions ceilings announced in July only amount to a 43% reduction.
The DECC confirmed that the Climate Action Plan 2023 – due to be published by the end of this year – will set out the policies, measures and actions required to achieve a 51% reduction in overall GHG emissions by 2030.
Climate Action Plan 2023
The next Climate Action Plan will implement the carbon budgets and the sectoral emissions ceilings, according to the DECC.
While carbon budgets determine the total amount of GHG emissions that may be emitted in Ireland in a five-year period, the sectoral emissions ceilings set maximum limits by 2030.
The total amount of sectoral emissions permitted in the 2021-2025 budget is set at 295 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (Mt CO2eq), and at 200Mt CO2eq for the 2026-2030 carbon budget, as approved by both Houses of the Oireachtas in April.
An Taisce recently voiced concerns claiming that the government introduced significant uncertainty around how and when the carbon budgets will be delivered.
Acting chair of the An Taisce Climate Committee Dr. Ciara Beausang urged the government to clarify the five-year budget allowances for each sector until 2025. She said:
“The question that must be asked is – where is the government’s statement of sectoral ceilings to stay within a carbon budget of 295Mt CO2eq over the 2021-2025 period?”
The development of sectoral emissions ceilings and the introduction of carbon budgets were provided for in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021, according to the DECC.