Dr. Joeri Rogelj:

I thank the Senator for his question. On whether it would have been possible to do more to reduce carbon dioxide compared with methane, in principle, the answer is "Yes". In practice, the situation we are in now and the targets governments globally have set in the Paris Agreement on the safe limits for our planet being 1.5°C or below 2°C, mean that very stringent reductions are required in all greenhouse gasses. What constitutes a fair contribution, particularly in a developed western nation, very often borders on, or even goes far beyond, what a country would generally even be technically able to do. In that sense, it would be really hard to convince any of the developing countries that holding back on climate action or reducing emissions where they can be reduced would be a fair contribution to limiting warming to the lowest level possible. This is a conversation to be had with all delegations or with other countries. It is probably not a question that will be answered by Ireland as a single country.