Ireland's challenge to meet climate targets is 'beyond compare', admits Ryan
Meet Environment Said 'playing Ryan Country Targets Minister Catch To Game' Is Eamon Up Climate The Already A
The scale of the challenge to meet climate targets and the speed at which it will have to be done is "beyond compare", and is still only picking up the pace.
That is according to Environment Minister Eamon Ryan, who told TDs and senators that projected population growth in Ireland means meeting targets set out in the Climate Action Plan is a "real challenge" as the country is already "playing a catch-up game".
The booming economy means that getting enough workers trained in fields such as retrofitting and solar installation is proving difficult, while decarbonising transport will be the biggest issue to tackle, he told the Oireachtas Climate Committee.
Ireland will not meet its sectoral reduction targets for last year, he admitted, adding that now until 2025 will be crucial in the bid to scale back greenhouse gas emissions.
People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith said it is "delusional" to think retrofitting targets are currently achievable, while also pointing out that Ireland's emissions grew so much in the first half of 2022 that it was the biggest culprit in the EU for emissions per person.
Too many measures needed to decarbonise are "being kicked down the road", she said. "Holes are being plugged" in energy with gas infrastructure and a further 16 data centres are due in the coming years to further strain the grid, she added.
Ambition is there on paper but not in reality, she claimed.
Mr Ryan denied that ambitions are merely on paper, claiming that the likes of the €1.3bn forestry plan set out last November will be "revolutionary".
He did concede that the strain from data centres and the huge power they consume is an issue.
However, Ireland entered into contractual agreements with data centre operators for new projects, he said, and will not "go back on its word" when it comes to such obligations.
Instead, the country needs to make sure that the electricity system can decarbonise at the same time, he said.
Fossil fuel power such as gas power generation is currently necessary because people cannot be left without heating, he added.
Independent senator Alice-Mary Higgins warned that a healthy economy "should not be used as an excuse" to not take necessary action on climate targets. Other countries not performing as well economically as Ireland are taking such actions, she said.
Mr Ryan retorted that pointing to the robust economy is "not an excuse, but the reality".
The updated Climate Action Plan was approved by Government in December, and provides an update on Ireland’s climate action, as well as reporting on the progress made in meeting a 51% reduction in emissions by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050.
Ireland's carbon budgets, which allocate emissions ceilings to the likes of motorists, households, farmers, businesses, and industry in five-year cycles, aim to reduce emissions by 4.8% per annum from 2021 to 2025 under the first block, while the 2026-2030 budget will increase that annual reduction to 8.3%.
Agriculture remains by far the largest contributor to overall emissions in Ireland, at 37.5% of the total, according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data in July. However, transport and buildings are also a major conundrum for decarbonisation.
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