Written answers

Tuesday, 9 June 2020

Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment

Climate Change Policy

Photo of Jennifer WhitmoreJennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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523. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the progress to date on the draft national energy and climate plan; when Ireland will be submitting the national long-term strategy, which was due to be submitted in January 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10372/20]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2018/1999), sets out the process for the preparation of the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP). Ireland’s draft NECP was approved by Government in late 2018 and submitted to the European Commission by the deadline of 31 December 2018. The European Commission then engaged in an iterative process with Member States and issued recommendations to each Member State on 18 June 2019. Since the submission of the draft NECP in December 2018, considerable work has been undertaken in the development of Ireland’s final NECP, which fully incorporates the significantly raised ambition and additional policies under the Climate Action Plan. Together with the Commission recommendations and the responses to our two public consultations, these have informed the final draft NECP which better reflects our new, increased levels of energy efficiency, higher renewable energy ambitions and maps out a clear path to delivering on Ireland’s carbon reduction targets for 2030 and beyond. My Department has kept the  European Commission informed on progress on an on-going basis and is working towards submitting the final NECP to the Commission at the earliest opportunity. 

Substantial work has been undertaken on developing Ireland’s Long-Term Climate Strategy (LTS) to 2050. The LTS will be sent to the European Commission once it has been submitted to Government for consideration and approval. The LTS will identify additional measures and pathways beyond 2030, towards decarbonisation to 2050 underpinned by analysis of transition options across all key sectors of the economy, to inform future policy making, business investment decisions and household, community and citizen action. It will build on the decarbonisation pathways to 2030 that are detailed in the Climate Action Plan 2019 and reflected in the National Energy and Climate Plan. 

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