The latest indications on Ireland’s carbon emissions “are alarming and shocking”, according to the Stop Climate Chaos (SCC) coalition.
SCC public policy adviser Oisín Coghlan said Ireland was going backwards on the path to a pollution-free future.
He was responding to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) projections up to 2030 published on Wednesday indicating Ireland will only cut emissions by 23 per cent compared to a 51 per cent legally binding target.
“The new Government simply isn’t implementing the policies and measures in the climate action plan fast enough ... it seems to be stalling rather than accelerating action to reduce emissions,” he said.
“What the Government does now will be the acid test of Micheál Martin’s commitment to deliver the programme for government, which reaffirmed Ireland’s legally binding limits on polluting emissions to 2030 and promised “decisive action to radically reduce our reliance on fossil fuels”, he said.
This required a moratorium on any new data centres unless they operate on 100 per cent renewables from the start, Mr Coghlan added.
The Government should reinstate the ban on commercial LNG imports that would simply increase dependence of fossil gas, and pause plans to build a State gas reserve until there’s an independent assessment of whether the existing oil reserve could provide backup power needed, Mr Coghlan added.
A commitment to spend twice as much on new public transport as on new roads and adopt the “moving together” strategy shelved last year to reduce congestion and traffic pollution should be reinstated, he said.
The Infrastructure and Climate Fund and EU Social Climate Fund should be used to retrofit 100 per cent of social housing and put solar panels on every school, church, sports club and community hall by 2030, he said.
Immediate action was needed to bring agriculture into line with legally binding limits, Mr Coghlan said. Fertiliser prices were dropping and gains from lower fertiliser use in recent years were at risk, unless use was capped at current levels.
“The science is clear that reducing methane is the ‘emergency hand brake’ for emissions. 29 per cent of our emissions come from methane.”
Minister for Climate and Energy Darragh O’Brien said the projections “are a clear signal that, while we’ve made real progress, we need to move faster to meet our 2030 climate targets”.
The Government was fully aware of the scale of the climate challenge and need to accelerate climate action, he said.
“We are undergoing a renewables-led energy transformation. Coal is on the way out, and renewables are now the backbone of our power mix; electricity generation from renewables has increased fivefold since 2005. It is estimated that renewables provided 40 per cent of our electricity demand in 2024,” he added.
This was being backed by important permitting and legal reforms, and further auctions to support additional onshore and offshore renewable energy, Mr O’Brien said. A €2.5 billion programme of grid upgrades was under way to strengthen the electricity network for renewables and electrification, while major investment in EirGrid and ESB was being finalised.
“As part of our energy revolution we are delivering new interconnectors: the Greenlink interconnector to the UK is now operational, doubling Ireland’s interconnector capacity,” the Minister said. “These projects boost energy security and allow greater import/export of clean power.”
He added: “This is backed by concrete action: emissions fell by 6.8 per cent in 2023. GDP has seen a six-fold increase and the population has increased by nearly 50 per cent since 1990. Yet, emissions are lower today than they were then. That’s real decoupling of emissions from economic activity – and few countries in Europe have achieved it under similar pressure.”
Despite the EPA projection that Ireland would only have 640,000 EVs at best by 2030 rather than a 945,000 target in the Government’s climate plan, Mr O’Brien said “electric vehicle sales are up – by 23 per cent in April alone – and not just in cities”.
Home retrofits were scaling up, with over 1,000 upgrades a week happening last year, he said. “Certainty around National Development Plan support is a key enabler to that growth.”
The Solar for Schools programme was delivering clean power to more than 1,000 schools and increasing climate awareness in the classroom, he said, while the recently introduced Renewable Heat Obligation would help decarbonise heating in industry and buildings. The 2025 Heat Bill would unlock district heating in urban areas, he said.
Mr O’Brien said: “EPA projections are not absolute forecasts; they reflect delivery to date. The first climate action plan of this Government was delivered last month. Cross-departmental taskforces are in place. Governance arrangements have been strengthened, with the first meeting of the new Climate Action Programme Board held last week, involving senior officials from all the main sectors – including energy, transport and agriculture. Its remit is clear: to focus on accelerated delivery of the actions needed to close the emissions gap.”
