Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 lowest in three decades
Emissions data released by the Environmental Protection Agency shows that Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions dropped by 6.8% in 2023 with reductions in almost every sector. This decrease is the largest greenhouse gas reduction in a single year in agricultural emissions, energy emissions and the lowest residential emissions levels since 1990. In 2023 the overall emissions emitted added up to 55 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent excluding those released from Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry.
Speaking about the report, Laura Burke, Director General of the EPA said:
“Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 were at their lowest level in over three decades, as a result of the largest reduction in emissions outside of recession. These are significant findings that signal the impact of climate action and decarbonisation measures across Ireland’s economy and society. We see the impact of more renewables and interconnection powering electricity, less fossil fuel use in home heating, reduced nitrogen fertiliser use in agriculture and more biofuel in transport.
She added,
“The data indicates a move towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the scale and pace required to meet our climate ambition of a 51 per cent reduction by 2030. However, while these are positive results for the year 2023, we are still well off track in terms of meeting EU and national 2030 targets. We need to maintain and further build momentum.”
The assessment showed that Ireland complied with its EU Effort Sharing Regulation commitments from 2021 – 2023. Despite the drop in emissions Ireland still has a lot to do to meet reduction targets. An annual reduction of 8.3% needs to be met in both 2024 and 2025 if Ireland is to stay within the first Carbon Budget.
Also commenting on the report Mary Frances Rochford, Programme Manager for the EPA said:
“There are many positives to be taken from this assessment. We see emission reduction milestones achieved in many key sectors in 2023. Residential emissions were at their lowest level since 1990, we saw the largest year on year reductions to date in the Energy and Agriculture sectors. All of which have contributed to a decrease in our emissions per capita from 11.4 to 10.4 tonnes CO2eq in 2023.”
