Ireland to secure lower emissions target in EU deal

Ireland looks set to secure a more lenient emissions reduction target as part of the next EU climate deal, primarily to reflect the State’s high dependency on agriculture.

According to a leaked document from the European Commission, the Government has provisionally agreed a deal, which would oblige the State to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25.5 per cent, on 2005 levels, by 2030.

This is significantly lower than the EU’s overall reduction target of 40 per cent, which countries such as the UK, France and Germany are said to be ready to sign off on.

It is also only 5 per cent more than Ireland’s current 2020 target, which the State is likely to miss, leaving the taxpayer in line for a series of fines after the compliance period ends.

Exemption

Government officials are said to have won an exemption for Ireland in the setting of EU 2030 climate targets on the basis of the State’s unusually large agricultural sector, which accounts for 40 per cent of carbon emissions.

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan claimed, however, the deal would effectively tie the hands of the newly established climate change advisory council by "delaying any real ambition from Ireland for the next 15 years".

“Our neighbours have been set much more ambitious 2030 targets and they will lead the transition to this new clean economy. We will miss out on the economic and social opportunities that are going to arise for those that clean up their act.” Mr Ryan also lamented the fact the Government’s proposed national mitigation plan for carbon emissions would not be in place until after the next election.

The Department of the Environment, however, denied climate change targets for 2030 for Ireland or any other EU state had been agreed.

Wrangling

“There is no agreement at an EU level on greenhouse gas emission reduction targets up to the year 2030, and it is not likely that such an agreement will be reached until 2016,” a spokesman said.

EU states have been involved in seven months of wrangling over how they will fulfil their climate commitments. Individual state targets for the next compliance period are not expected to be revealed until after the UN’s crunch climate conference in Paris in December, where new global targets are expected to be adopted.

The International Energy Agency this week warned global temperatures could jump by as much as 4.3 degrees by the end of the century if more ambitious targets were not adopted. Ireland is already on track to miss the current EU reduction target for 2020 due to increasing emissions from the agricultural and transport sectors.