Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Waller. There might be something for the aviation industry as well. We know the aviation industry is a considerable contributor to CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions. I cannot verify the claim but I read recently that if aviation was a country, it would be in the top ten emitters in the world. I cannot be sure that is true.

Going back to targets, we know our programme for Government commitment and that climate action legislation commits us to the 51% reduction by 2030 and being carbon-neutral by 2050. This European objective equates to a reduction of 55% by 2030 based on 1990 levels but our commitment is a 51% reduction on emissions based on our 2018 levels. I remember the Kyoto Protocol and we were allowed a 13% increase on 1990 emissions levels. It is a mountain to climb for everybody because we have done, relatively speaking, nothing in this country to address climate emissions over past decades. That is why we are in such a difficult position.

If we look at the difficulty for Europe to reach a 55% decrease based on 1990 levels compared with our 51% reduction based on 2018 levels, would ours be a much more difficult target to reach? Where are we on the 1990 scale?