Carbon Neutral by 2050 – Ireland’s daunting greener environment targets

In June 2021, The Irish President, Michael D Higgins signed the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill into law.  This final step in the bill, committed the Irish government to moving to a climate resilient and climate neutral economy by the end of 2050.  To put that simply, it set Ireland on a legally binding path to net-zero emissions by 2050. This is quite a daunting task, but one we, as responsible citizens of the world, have no alternative but to strive to fulfill.  Friends of the Earth director Oisín Coghlan tweeted: “This is an historic day for Irish climate policy and a landmark reform of public administration in Ireland. Now the real work begins.”  The real work presents some real environmental challenges.

What will this mean for Ireland going forward? 

The immediate target for Ireland is to halve our carbon emissions by 2030. Although the exact road map to this target has not yet been finalised and the climate action plan, which will outline those steps, has yet to be published.   It is expected that agriculture and transport are the sectors where there will be the greatest implications. Together these are responsible for over half of Ireland’s green house gas emission. Each minister in Government will also be responsible for ensuring that legally binding targets for their own sectoral area are met and they will have to account for their performance towards sectoral targets and actions before an Oireachtas committee. This is quite the increase in roles and responsibilities for elected officials. Local Authorities too will be charged with preparing individual climate action plans, including adaption measures and these must align with the national climate plan. This means all public spending on capital projects will need extra vigilance and carbon reducing elements incorporated into the plans. For the agricultural sector, Teagasc will be set the task of measuring outputs from slurry spreading, from general emissions and from shorter animal housing periods for the first five years of the plan. Biogenic Methane is an emitted by belching livestock and it too will be incorporated into the plan for zero emissions. Farmers will also play their part on climate action by adopting technologies which reduce methane and contribute positively to water quality and biodiversity and how this translates into reduced emissions is likely to mean that farmers will face a reduction of cattle stock numbers

 Following that time frame, the reduction of targets will be set.

Extreme weather events around the world over the past month have shown us all that we must act in an immediate and responsive way to protect ourselves and our planet. The Green Party leader, Eamonn Ryan feels that the enactment of the Climate Action Bill is also an opportunity to transform our economy. “Create new jobs, protect our environment and build a greener and fairer future.”   Not everyone agrees with this analysis, and it is not always met with a positive and optimistic response. Change can be tough.  Midlands communities are already experiencing the consequences of Bord na Móna getting out of peat extraction   The legislation around this bill will have big consequences for how we heat buildings in particular .Halving emissions by the end of the decade means more than 500,000 houses will have to be deep retrofitted and fossil fuels replaced by renewable energy and clean technologies such as heat pumps. This will have huge financial implications for homeowners.  Climate action will of course dominate all housing planning by local authorities and legally, there will be an onus to provide cleaner air, warmer homes and green electricity.

An open Climate Conversation as part of the National Dialogue on Climate Action (NCDA) asked citizens to participate and to share their views on climate action and what can be done to address such daunting targets.  The public consultation process has now ended, and this historic Bill has been enshrined into law.  Ireland must finally take seriously the race towards a greener, more environmentally responsible future.  The journey must lead us to a landing a gentler footprint on the planet and to a comprehensive working awareness of the damage already done to our home, earth.  The time has come not just to clean up after we, but to plan for a cleaner, greener and brighter future.

References: gov.ie/en/publication/984d2-climate-action-and-low-carbon-development-amendment-bill-2020