Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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62. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the engagement he has had with his counterpart in the Northern Executive regarding an all-island approach to the agreements made in Paris regarding climate change. [38571/16]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The global response to the challenges of climate change is driven by the Paris Agreement, which entered into force last month. The Agreement has an overall goal of restricting global temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, with an ambition to limit it to a 1.5°C increase above pre-industrial levels. It aims to tackle 95% of global emissions through 188 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Ireland will contribute to the Paris Agreement via the NDC tabled by the EU on behalf of its Member States, which commits to 40% reduction in EU-wide emissions by 2030 compared to 1990. The specific details of the contribution to this 40% to be made by each Member State, including Ireland and the UK, in respect of the non-ETS sector was the subject of a European Commission proposal published in July 2016.  The full implications of this proposal from a domestic perspective are currently being examined.

In conjunction with the coordinated EU response to climate change, my Department also engages with the Northern Executive on a range of environmental areas, including air quality, cross-border waste management and environmental protection (including climate change). On matters relating specifically to climate change, I am aware that officials from my Department are continuing to liaise with their counterparts in Northern Ireland on a range of areas of mutual interest covering both mitigation and adaptation.

The North-South Ministerial Council, established under the Good Friday Agreement, facilitates good cooperation on environmental issues, and I look forward to continued cooperation with the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs on matters of mutual interest, as referenced in the Programme for Partnership Government.