Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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174. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if his attention has been drawn to the recently released 2023 report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which calls for emissions to be reduced by half by 2030; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16455/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I welcome the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC’s) Sixth Assessment (AR6) Synthesis Report on Climate Change which brings together the latest climate science with a clear overarching message that we must do more and we must do it now.

The report confirms that, with global warming having already reached 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels, climate change is causing widespread and increasingly irreversible losses and damages. However the IPCC have demonstrated that there are options for all sectors to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and the increased use of renewable energy, improved energy efficiency and fuel switching has reduced global carbon dioxide emissions.

The report underlines the importance of the Government’s commitment to rapidly scaling up Ireland’s efforts to decarbonise. Climate Action Plan 2023 sets out our response as a country to the climate crisis with the objective of reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030 and to reach net-zero emissions no later than 2050.

However, effective international cooperation remains critical to reduce overall emissions and to restrict global warming. Ireland has committed to more than double our climate finance contribution to developing countries to €225 million a year by 2025 and has provided almost €100 million in 2021, the highest amount of climate finance provided by Ireland to date.

I look forward to working with our international partners, including at the next annual UN climate conference (COP28) in Dubai later this year. COP28 offers the opportunity to present concrete actions and solutions informed by the latest science from the IPCC to raise ambition and drive implementation by overcoming barriers to societal support and action.