Ireland won’t meet 2013-2020 EU targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, EPA says

IRELAND HAS GONE over the EU targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions for 2013-2020, according to new projections from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

The EPA, an independent public body responsible for environmental research and enforcing environmental law in Ireland, released its projections for Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions for 2020 to 2040. 

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It said Ireland is projected to have gone over its emissions limit for 2013-2020 by 12.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2 eq).

However, the EPA said the country can meet the EU reduction targets for 2021-2030 if the measures set out in the government’s 2019 Climate Action Plan are fully implemented.

This would result in a reduction of almost 2% per year in emissions between 2021 and 2030. 

Director General at the EPA, Laura Burke, said the next decade “needs to be one of major developments and advances” in Ireland’s climate change response. 

“For Ireland to meet the more ambitious targets as presented in the European Climate Law and Ireland’s Climate Bill, and to transform to a climate resilient, biodiversity rich and climate neutral economy by 2050, there needs to be a significant and immediate increase in the scale and pace of greenhouse gas emission reductions,” Burke said.

Source: Thejournal.ie