Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

80. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources when he expects to conclude negotiations with the EU on Ireland's 2030 climate targets; and the starting point that Ireland will be set in 2020 in having to reach the latter targets. [29792/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Paris Agreement, which entered into force in November 2016, aims to limit global average temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, with an ambition of 1.5 degrees Celsius. The Agreement is designed to meet this objective through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted by all parties to the agreement. In this regard, the European Union submitted an NDC committing to a reduction of at least 40% in EU-wide emissions by 2030 compared with 1990 levels, which will be met through reductions of 43% in the Emission Trading System (ETS) and 30% in the non-ETS sector compared with 2005 levels.

A proposal on the non-ETS targets for individual Member States, the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR), was published by the European Commission in July 2016. Targets have been proposed for Member States based on GDP per capita and the cost-effectiveness of domestic emissions reductions within individual Member States, with the starting point based on average emissions over the period 2016 to 2018. In the case of Ireland a target of 39% has been proposed, which has been adjusted downwards to 30% to reflect cost-effectiveness of measures within the Irish economy. 

The Commission proposal recognises different Member State circumstances and the need to provide flexibility to reduce emissions as cost-effectively as possible in the context of the overall EU target. Ireland has been actively engaged in negotiations in the Council of Ministers, and is working to ensure that these core principles are maintained in the final outcome to the negotiations. At the Environment Council meeting of Monday 19 June, my EU counterparts and I reviewed progress to date and emphasised the need to prioritise a successful conclusion to these negotiations which retains a high environmental ambition for the EU but provides each Member State the capacity to contribute to that ambition in a cost effective and fair manner.

The incoming Estonian Presidency has indicated a desire to reach agreement in the Council, allowing negotiations with the European Parliament to commence, during its term.