Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Climate Action Plan 2021 included a Public Sector Climate Action Mandate which was approved by Government in July 2022. As part of the preparation of Climate Action Plan 2023, the Mandate was reviewed and updated. The 2023 Mandate was approved by Government in May 2023.

The Mandate helps public sector bodies to lead by example on climate action by highlighting the priority climate action objectives, and applies to bodies covered by decarbonisation targets except for local authorities, commercial semi-state bodies, and the school sector, which have separate requirements. Each body’s Climate and Sustainability Champion is responsible for supporting implementation of the Mandate and reporting on progress.

The Mandate must be reported on annually through the SEAI’s Monitoring & Reporting (M&R) system using a ‘comply and explain’ approach. Reporting through the M&R system will commence in the latter half of 2024. From 2025 onwards, Government Departments and Public Sector Bodies will be facilitated to report on the Mandate through the M&R system as part of the standard reporting cycle in Q1 of each year.

The Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies will be updated to reflect Mandate reporting requirements. This will enable parent Departments to include climate considerations as part of the existing reporting structure for monitoring compliance with statutory and governance requirements. The implementation of the Mandate is supported through the body’s Climate Action Roadmap. Guidance and support on developing the Roadmap is available from SEAI. Public sector energy performance is reported on and published in theAnnual Report on Public Sector Decarbonisation & Energy Efficiency Performance. The 2022 report on 2021 data was published recently by SEAI.