Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Climate change is the single greatest threat facing humanity today. We must be the generation that turns the tide on climate change and biodiversity loss. The Government’s climate action plan 2023 requires public sector bodies to put in place a climate action roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030 and to increase the improvement in energy efficiency to 50% by 2030. The Department of the Taoiseach published our first climate action roadmap on gov.ie earlier this year.

It was developed with the support and guidance of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. It sets out an analysis of the Department's 2030 greenhouse gas targets and estimates a current gap of 28 tonnes of CO2 from our 2030 target of 231 tonnes, that is to say, we are 12% short.

The roadmap identifies current and planned actions to bridge that gap between now and 2030. An important part of that will be retrofit works to Government Buildings, to be undertaken as part of the OPW’s overall plan to make public buildings more efficient. The Department established a green team in 2019 which has already implemented a range of actions to reduce energy usage and Department emissions. Last year, Government Buildings took part in the Reduce Your Use campaign and reduced external lighting by 75% and heating use by 14% over the winter. The green team will oversee implementation of further actions, including extending sensor lighting as appropriate to other locations in the building, completing hand dryer replacements in bathrooms with energy efficient models, reviewing energy usage in ICT server rooms, continuing staff information and communication campaigns, rolling out climate action training to staff and ensuring widespread use of green public procurement. Separately, I have asked that the lawn in front of Government Buildings be considered for use as a wildflower meadow. The Department’s climate action roadmap will be updated annually to report on progress and incorporate new actions.

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