Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I published Ireland’s first statutory national mitigation plan in July 2017. This is an important initial step to enable the transition to a low carbon economy and society. The plan identifies 70 mitigation measures and 106 related actions to address the immediate challenge to 2020 and to prepare for the EU targets that Ireland will take on for 2030.

The latest projections of greenhouse gas emissions by the Environmental Protection Agency indicate that Ireland is likely to fall short of our 2020 target to reduce emissions by 20% below 2005 levels. Emissions from those sectors of the economy covered by Ireland's 2020 targets could be between 4% and 6% below 2005 levels by 2020. The projected shortfall to our targets in 2020 reflects both the constrained investment capacity over the past decade due to the economic crisis and the extremely challenging nature of the target itself. In fact, it is now accepted that Ireland’s 2020 target was not consistent with what would be achievable on an EU wide cost-effective basis. While Ireland is likely to have to purchase additional allowances towards compliance with our 2020 targets, the cost of compliance is not at this stage expected to be significant.

Given the complexity of the issues and the time horizon involved, it is not possible for the national mitigation plan to provide a complete roadmap to achieve our 2050 objective. Similarly, it does not yet provide a complete roadmap to meeting Ireland's expected targets between 2021 and 2030 under the draft EU effort sharing regulation. Instead, the plan will be subject to formal review at least once every five years and will also become a living document, accessible on my Department's website, where it will be updated on an ongoing basis as analysis, dialogue and technological innovation generate further cost-effective sectoral mitigation options.

This continuous reviewprocess reflects the broad and evolving nature of the sectoral challenges outlined in the plan, coupled with the continued development and deployment of emerging low carbon and cost-effective technologies across different sectors of the economy. As this first plan moves into the implementation phase, the process will enable it to be amended, refined and strengthened over time and will assist in keeping Ireland on target to meet our obligations.

See this speech in context