The quarter one (Q1) Progress Report of the 2023 Climate Action Plan (CAP23) has been published, setting out delivery of significant actions across critical sectors.
Six high impact sectors were identified in CAP23, reflecting the areas where emissions reduction is most significantly and urgently required under Ireland’s legally-binding carbon budgets.
Sectoral Emissions Ceilings (SECs) have been established for agriculture, buildings, electricity, industry, and transport. A final SEC for land use is expected by the end of the year, pending the assessment of evolving scientific data.
Progress review
In total, 36 actions were scheduled for delivery and reporting in Q1 2023. An implementation rate of 75% was achieved, with 27 measures completed on time this quarter, according to the review.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is reported to have completed 10 of its 11 objectives for the period, while the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform completed just one of its four objectives.
In addition to headline sectoral actions, the report notes a number of cross-cutting actions completed in Q1 2023 that support the delivery of climate action via finance, planning, research, engagement, resilience, and public sector leadership.
Speaking on the Q1 report, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: “The climate challenge is urgent, but we know we have the solutions. Taking action on climate does not have to be a burden; this is a moment of opportunity.
“Our 2023 Climate Action Plan will drive our emissions down and improve our lives with cleaner air, cleaner, cheaper energy, warmer homes, better transport links and less time commuting, new income, employment and investment opportunities for businesses, including for agri-businesses, more remote working, more jobs and better regional development.
“Our targets are challenging, and require system change, but the climate action we take will create a better, sustainable future,” Varadkar added.
The Taoiseach said he has set the ambition for Ireland to become energy independent in one generation and he plans to convene a special summit on this topic during the summer.
“We must be generation that turns the tide on climate change and biodiversity loss and leave the planet to the next generation in a better condition than we inherited it,” the Taoiseach said.
Environment minister, Eamon Ryan said: “There is nothing easy about climate action because what we are aiming to do is fundamentally change a fossil fuel-driven economic model that has been in place for over a century to one that reduces polluting emissions and the erosion of our environment.
“This first quarter report for 2023 tells us that we are making progress, we are meeting the majority of our milestones and we are taking climate action, every day and every month. The ship is turning, slowly but methodically.
“Last year, e.g., 34% of Ireland’s electricity needs were met by wind energy, meaning that we had to spend €2 billion less on gas. On one day just last week 10% of our electricity needs were met by solar power,” Ryan added.
The environment minister added that there is likely to be a “lag time” before we see large reductions in emissions but if all sectors keep delivering actions, we should begin to see significant changes by 2050.
Meanwhile, Green Party Minister of State at the DAFM, Pippa Hackett has welcomed the progress report.
She said: “We know we are playing catch-up from previous years and any delays in delivery must be urgently overcome to meet legally binding emissions reduction targets at EU and national levels.
“Based on this progress report, I believe there is lots of scope to be hopeful.”
“There are many wins here for rural areas, from opportunities to work remotely thanks to the expansion of the network of co-working hubs, to the funding for the regeneration of our town centres through town plans and measures to reclaim vacant buildings.”
Climate Action Plan 2023
The Climate Action Plan 2023, launched in December 2022, is the second annual update of its kind and the first to be prepared under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021.
It follows on from the introduction, in 2022, of economy-wide carbon budgets and sectoral emissions ceilings.
The plan details actions across a number of areas, including six high-impact sectors:
- Powering renewables;
- Building better;
- Transforming how we travel;
- Making family farms more sustainable;
- Greening business and enterprise;
- Changing land use.
Progress reporting on CAP23 is largely confined to actions relating to initiatives or significant steps towards achieving the government’s climate ambitions.
High impact actions completed this quarter include:
- Implementation of the Agri-Climate Rural Environment (ACRES) scheme;
- Grant-aiding of solar panels for on-farm electricity generation under Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) with increased kw limits;
- Implement the Energy Efficiency Obligation Scheme;
- Publication of Phase 1 of the Land Use Review;
- Introduce a new tax incentive to encourage small-scale landlords to undertake retrofitting works while tenant in situ;
- Deliver a strategy to achieve at least a 51% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a 50% improvement in public sector energy efficiency by 2030;
- Consider further opportunities for issuing new Irish Sovereign Green Bonds;
- Finalise scoping report on coastal change management.
One action which has been delayed is in relation to carbon pricing.
According to the progress review there has been a delay in finalising research on the marginal abatement cost of reaching climate targets in order to revise the shadow price of carbon.
Agriculture
The review states that agriculture is the single largest GHG-emitting sector in Ireland.
Additional agriculture-related emissions also arise in the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sector from organic soils drained for farming uses (grasslands), according to the review.
Combined, emissions from agriculture and LULUCF account for about 45% of Irish emissions, it stated.
Agricultural emissions increased by 3% in 2021, primarily due to increased fertiliser use, dairy cow numbers and milk production, according to the government document.
Methane from livestock (enteric fermentation and manure management) reportedly accounts for 68% of Irish agricultural GHGs.