Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 19 September 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Review of the Climate Action Plan: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications

1:30 pm

Mr. Marc Kierans:

There are a number of issues in this regard. First, when the inventory is published by the EPA every year, it does refinements. Those refinements are backdated to 1990. That is the first thing to say. That is our UN reporting process. The carbon budgets were based on a 2018 figure at a time when the carbon budgets were created. There is a bit of disparity in that regard and there will be a need for a recalibration at a certain point in the budget process. While there is noise in the system, that 6.8% is substantially down to emissions reductions. There is a need, however, at some point, to do a bank conciliation statement on this process. There will be a revision next year and in the years following that.