Government wins concessions in new EU emissions targets

The Government has secured significant concessions in new European Union emission targets for 2030.

However, Ireland remains on track to become one of only two EU countries to miss its targets by 2020. While EU leaders agreed on the overall emission reduction for the union between 2021 and 2030 in October 2014, the European Commission on Wednesday published a detailed calculation of specific targets for member states.

It follows months of meetings and lobbying by each member state, including Ireland, which is facing significant pressure from Brussels over its high level of agricultural emissions.

Ireland will be obliged to reduce emissions by 30 per cent relative to those of 2005, according to the new calculations. This is a reduction on the previous scheme.

Moreover, the European Commission has agreed to include a specific “land use” clause, which will allow countries to offset environmentally-friendly use of land and afforestation against their emissions target. Ireland has been granted more flexibility than any other member state to reflect its high dependency on agriculture, with the commission granting Ireland flexibility worth 5.6 per cent – the maximum available.

Ireland, and other countries including Latvia, have argued that, because forests and other managed grasslands act as "carbon sinks", this should be allowed to compensate for high emissions in other areas such as agriculture.

Trading scheme

The new proposal covers the agriculture, transport and housing sector, but not industries covered by the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).  In another positive development for Ireland a number of states will be permitted to transfer up to 4 per cent of their surpluses from the ETS to offset their non-ETS targets. The starting point for 2030 targets will be based on average emissions between 2016 and 2018, which constitutes a win for Ireland.

The Irish Farmers’ Association welcomed the announcement of the 2030 emission calculations, describing the new targets as “challenging but more balanced” than previous figures set by the commission. The Government is reviewing the proposals to assess their impact and cost-effectiveness.

However, the initiative was criticised by environmentalists and NGOs. Fern, a Brussels-based organisation, said that using forestation as an excuse to emit more carbon “sends the wrong message.”

The Green group in the European Parliament said the commission was acting "as if the COP21 Paris climate summit never happened." The World Wildlife Fund noted "loopholes", such as the use of carbon-absorbing forests to count towards emissions targets championed by Ireland.

There had been expectations that the climate package may have been deferred following Britain’s decision to leave the EU. The exit of a member state will have an impact on the overall emission targets for the remaining 27. But despite Brexit the commission continued with its plan to publish the new targets, including specific calculations for Britain which remains an EU member until it officially leaves the bloc.