Eamon Ryan: 'Incredible level of delivery' needed to make Ireland's emissions targets
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It will take an "incredible level of delivery" in the coming years if Ireland is to make its emissions targets, Eamon Ryan has said.
Some people are "frozen with fear around climate change", but there is reason for optimism that Ireland can meet its emissions ambitions with "things starting to go in the right direction", the Environment Minister said as the latest iteration of the Climate Action Plan was greenlit.
The Climate Action Plan 2024 (CAP24), having been signed off by the Cabinet this week, will go out to public consultation early in the new year, as well as being assessed by experts.
It is the second statutory plan since the Climate Act 2021 was signed into law, committing Ireland to 51% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
An assessment by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) earlier this year cast doubt on Ireland reaching the 2030 targets, projecting current plans would achieve a reduction of 29%.
Even that 29% cut will only happen if all emissions-reduction plans currently mooted and in train are implemented, the EPA said. If the planned actions are not implemented and existing measures are relied upon, the reduction is forecast to be just 11%.
Mr Ryan insisted there are other measures the EPA did not factor into its modelling that would bring emissions to around 40%.
Additional measures announced in the latest iteration of the CAP "are designed to close the gap further to get towards" 51%, he said.
"That's all assuming an incredible level of delivery... It is a massive upscale of ambition," he said as he insisted measures taken will be good for the economy.
The Government is "smashing it" in terms of retrofitting targets, with numbers of householders taking up grants "an incredible success story", Mr Ryan said.
He said 2023 targets of 37,000 homes had been exceeded beyond 46,000.
"That's an incredible success story of Irish householders taking up the grants that we put in place, and starting to see the benefits of cutting emissions, but also cutting your costs and improving the home," he said.
Doubts have been cast around Ireland achieving its retrofitting targets of 500,000 B2 Building Energy Rating (BER) home upgrades by 2030. A white paper from the Institute of International and European Affairs in June predicted "retrofitting half a million homes to a building energy rating B2 BER by 2030 in Ireland will require a wartime effort".
Mr Ryan said Dublin would see "major changes in Dublin city centre that will radically improve the urban pedestrian environment and the public realm" next year.
About 60% of traffic into Dublin city centre is passing through as opposed to staying, he said.
Retailers and city centres "will be better off" tackling the number of cars going through to another destination, he said.
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