Mr. Mark Griffin:

I thank the Chairman and the joint committee for the invitation to attend. The Department of Communications, Climate and Environment has been following the proceedings of the committee with a degree of interest in recent weeks. I am pleased to be the first Secretary General to be invited to appear before the committee.

Addressing climate change, whether through decarbonisation of the economy or preparing to adapt to the impacts of climate change, is one of the most significant challenges facing the country. It is a complex whole-of-government and society issue, with long-term impacts that require policy solutions in the near term. The Taoiseach and the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Denis Naughten, have acknowledged that Ireland is playing catch-up on its international and EU obligations. Figures published in May this year by the Environmental Protection Agency project that Ireland’s non-emissions trading system, ETS, emissions may be no lower than 1% below 2005 levels by 2020 in the context of a targeted 20% reduction. These disappointing figures are nonetheless a snapshot reflecting the extent of policy implementation at a particular point in time. Importantly, they do not include any projected benefit from the significant investment of almost €22 billion in climate action which will be made in the next decade under the national development plan.

I wish to address the complex sectoral challenges involved, as well as outlining progress in several other areas. On the plus side, we are making progress in the area of renewable electricity. Ireland is recognised as a world leader because of its success in integrating intermittent renewable energy generation with an isolated electricity grid. Preliminary SEAI figures show that at the end of 2017 we generated just over 30% of our electricity consumption from renewable sources, up from 26% in 2015 and 4.25% in 1997, the base year for the renewable energy directive. EirGrid grid management programmes are recognised as being at the leading edge of global research in this area. We have an ambition to achieve a figure of at least 55% for renewable electricity on the grid by 2030. The recently approved renewable electricity support scheme will help to deliver on that ambition.

The structure of Ireland’s economy, involving dispersed population settlement, car-based commuting and the central role of agriculture in the rural economy, requires the Government to balance economic and societal objectives with the imperative to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

We have not yet managed to decouple economic growth from growth in emissions in the transport and agriculture sectors which dominate non-ETS emissions, accounting for 75% of emissions in 2020. The EPA’s 2018 reports on greenhouse gas emission projections show continued growth in emissions in these sectors to 2030 in the absence of further measures being taken.

The policy framework to set Ireland on a path towards achieving its near-term targets, as well as its long-term - 2050 - decarbonisation objectives, is set out in the national mitigation plan which was published in 2017. It provides a framework to guide Government investment decisions on measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from four key sectors: electricity generation; the built environment; transport; and agriculture, forestry and land use. The plan sets out 106 actions and 60 measures to reduce our emissions. It is a living document which is being updated on an ongoing basis as analysis, dialogue and technological innovation generate more and more cost-effective sectoral mitigation options. The next update on the plan will be published as part of the 2018 annual transition statement later this year. Implementation of the national mitigation plan in this manner means that we are making continual, incremental inroads into addressing these long-term challenges.

It is worth highlighting some of the measures included in the national mitigation plan that are being actively addressed. They includecarbon pricing measures through the emissions trading scheme, ETS, for power generation and large industry, with a carbon tax being applied to other sectors; existing support schemes for renewable energy deployment; an ongoing programme of energy efficiency retrofits for the existing housing stock; implementation of the Near Zero Energy Building standards, nZEB, for new residential and commercial buildings; implementation of the public sector energy efficiency strategy which targets a 33% efficiency improvement by 2020; strengthening of the biofuels obligation scheme, with the rate of biofuels in the national fuel mix to increase to 10% from 1 January 2019; implementation of a range of agri-envionment schemes through the Rural Development Programme 2014 to 2020, including the beef data and genomics programme, the knowledge transfer programme, GLAS, green, low-carbon agri-environment scheme and the organic farming scheme; and the forestry programme, with an ambition to increase national forest cover from the current figure of 11% to 18% by the middle of the century.

The committee will be familiar with the headline commitments on climate action contained in the national development plan. They build on existing national mitigation plan commitments and, with almost 20% of total NDP funding for the period 2018 to 2027 to be spent by the State and State companies on climate related measures, represent a significant step-change in our approach, both in terms of scale of ambition and the funding needed to meet the climate challenge. Key initiatives in the national development plan include: energy efficiency upgrades of 45,000 homes per annum from 2021 and providing support for a major roll-out of heat pump technologies; delivering energy upgrades to BER B level in all public buildings and a minimum of one third of commercial buildings; implementing the new renewable electricity support scheme to deliver an additional 3,000 to 4,500 MW of renewable energy, with the initial focus on shovel ready projects which could contribute to meeting our 2020 renewable energy targets; the roll-out of the support scheme for renewable heat and national smart metering programme; transitioning the Moneypoint plant away from coal by the middle of the next decade; having at least 500,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2030, with additional charging infrastructure to cater for planned growth; a €500 million climate action fund to leverage investment by public and private bodies in innovative climate action measures; and public transport investments, with €8.6 billion in funding in the next decade under national strategic outcome 4 of the national development plan. The combined effect of existing national mitigation plan measures and new NDP commitments is contributing to containing pre-2020 emissions at lower levels than otherwise would be the case and will also take us some way toward meeting our 2030 targets.

The preparation of a national energy and climate plan, covering the period 2021 to 2030, is one of the key provisions of the recently agreed EU regulation on the governance of the energy union. It is an overarching, consolidating regulation that will streamline a large number of energy and climate planning and reporting requirements. The national energy and climate plan, NECP, will include trajectories for national emissions, renewable energy and energy efficiency and outline the measures required to achieve these trajectories. The first draft must be submitted to the European Commission by 31 December, with the final version due by 31 December 2019. We will commence preliminary consultation on the NECP within the next few weeks, or earlier, the findings of which will inform the initial draft NECP, with at least one further consultation on the draft plan during 2019. Ireland’s NECP will set out our proposed contribution to EU level targets for renewable energy and energy efficiency which will be informed both by our NDP commitments and our ambition to largely decarbonise the energy system by 2040.

In the electricity sector we will see the deployment of additional technologies in the next decade, with solar and offshore wind energy, in particular, playing an increasing role. We will further decarbonise the sector by ceasing to use coal and peat in electricity generation. In the transport sector we will increase our use of sustainable biofuels, move to electrify the car fleet and deploy renewable gas and compressed natural gas solutions for the heavier commercial fleet. In the heating-cooling sector we will significantly increase the use of heat pumps and sustainable biomass in the commercial sector. By combining these actions with a robust energy efficiency programme at domestic and commercial levels, we will significantly reduce emissions from the energy sector.

A separate requirement of the governance regulation is the preparation by each member state of a new long-term low emissions strategy. Each strategy must be prepared by the start of 2020, have at least a 30-year time horizon and contribute to long-term greenhouse gas emissions reductions in the European Union in accordance with the Paris Agreement. The strategy will further elaborate on sectoral pathways for Ireland to meet its long-term decarbonisation objectives to 2050.

We need to consider how we respond to the impacts of climate change. No matter how successful our mitigation efforts prove to be, we are already locked into a scenario where globally we know that we are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Observations show that Ireland’s climate is also changing and the observed scale and rate of change are consistent with regional and global trends. Earlier this year the Minister published Ireland’s first statutory national adaptation framework which aims to reduce the vulnerability of our environment, society and economy to the impacts of climate change and thus increase our overall climate resilience.

The national adaptation framework identifies 12 key sectors within the remit of seven Departments where sectoral adaptation plans are to be prepared for submission to the Government for approval by 13 December. Each local authority will also be developing its own adaptation strategies under the national framework. Building capacity within both central and local government administrations to engage with climate adaptation is very important, particularly at regional and local level. In that regard, in January the Minister announced the establishment of four climate action regional offices to co-ordinate and drive climate action at local level and committed €10 million to support their work. Furthermore, the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment is continuing to support the ongoing development of a climate information platform - Climate Ireland - which is providing hands on training and guidance for the regional teams being established within these offices. In addition, the Department continues to support the EPA's climate change research programme which plays a critical role in informing our responses to adaptation.

The Minister and the Government have welcomed the report and recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly. Many of the assembly's recommendations on climate action are already being implemented by the Government. For example, on public sector leadership, the public sector energy efficiency strategy requires public bodies to implement the Nearly Zero Energy Building ,nZEB, standard two years in advance of the private sector and provides a framework for investment in public buildings retrofits - recommendation No. 2. The new renewable electricity support scheme, RESS, provides for communities to develop their own renewable electricity projects and for developer-led projects to offer investment opportunities to local citizens and communities - recommendation No. 6. In relation to sustainable mobility, strategic outcome 4 of the national development plan commits to investing €8.6 billion in the next ten years. Capital funding for cycling and walking infrastructure will increase threefold between 2018 and 2021, with over €110 million allocated for urban cycling and walking infrastructure in the main cities - recommendation No. 8. A strong package of measures to support the roll-out of electric vehicles is now in place, supporting the NDP objective of having at least 500,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2030 - recommendation No. 9. The Minister is promoting strong action at EU level and in Ireland to address food waste - recommendation No. 12 - and reduce packaging, in particular plastics - ancillary recommendation No. 2. The Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government is implementing the Nearly Zero Energy Building, nZEB, standard for new residential and commercial buildings - ancillary recommendation No. 4 which will come into force from 1 January 2019.

Much of the discussion in and on the work of the Citizens’ Assembly has focused on the need to recognise the economic and social, in addition to the environmental, opportunities provided by the low carbon transition. The imperative to take advantage of these opportunities is also made explicit in both the national policy position and the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015.

There is now a large body of international and local evidence that examines the potential gains for the economy in taking strong action to develop the low carbon economy. The Government's support for energy efficiency measures in our building stock is supported by detailed analysis, commissioned by SEAI, that evidences not only savings but also employment gains, market and supply chain development opportunities and macro-economic benefits that can be achieved from energy efficiency investments. In 2017 alone, Exchequer investments of €70 million in building energy upgrades supported more than 2,000 jobs across Ireland. Elsewhere, the development of the bioeconomy and the development of a stronger emphasis on value-added, sustainable food production presents real long-term economic opportunities for Ireland's agriculture and food sectors, which will have the potential for real improvements in the emissions profile of the sector over the longer term.

Ireland's publicly funded research is also recognising these opportunities. The recently concluded refresh of our national research priorities has added energy, climate action and sustainability as one of six overall themes for the 2018-23 period. This will comprise the two broad pillars of research - decarbonising the energy system and sustainable living.

The Citizens' Assembly also demonstrates that individual citizens can produce very clear recommendations when provided with an opportunity to reflect and consider in detail a specific societal change. It also underlines that Ireland will not achieve its climate objectives through Government action alone and engagement with wider society on an ongoing basis will be essential. This is a model that the Department intends to develop further through initiatives under the national dialogue on climate action, which was launched by the Minister last year, to deliver on the objective of broad societal engagement in the low-carbon transition. On 23 June, a first regional gathering, under the auspices of the dialogue, took place in Athlone. Further regional gatherings are being planned and details will be announced by the Department in the near future.

In conclusion, the Government is already implementing many of the recommendations made by the Citizens’ Assembly and considering the best way to follow through on others. We are implementing long-term climate mitigation and adaptation strategies through the national mitigation plan, the national adaptation framework and the national development plan and will be streamlining our EU climate and energy reporting via the national energy and climate plan, NECP. Citizens are being consulted on how best to tackle climate change through the national dialogue on climate action. We will launch a consultation on the NECP very shortly. We have a long way to go and huge challenges ahead. We also have to see and grasp the huge opportunities that exist if we embrace a low carbon future.