Ireland’s Climate Targets

The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021 will support Ireland’s transition to Net Zero and achieve a climate neutral economy by no later than 2050. It will establish a legally binding framework with clear targets and commitments set in law, and ensure the necessary structures and processes are embedded on a statutory basis to ensure we achieve our national, EU and international climate goals and obligations in the near and long term.

The Bill includes the following key elements:

  • Places on a statutory basis a 'national climate objective', which commits to pursue and achieve no later than 2050, the transition to a climate resilient, biodiversity-rich, environmentally-sustainable and climate-neutral economy
  • Embeds the process of carbon budgeting into law, Government are required to adopt a series of economy-wide five-year carbon budgets, including sectoral targets for each relevant sector, on a rolling 15-year basis, starting in 2021
  • Provides that the first two five-year carbon budgets proposed by the Climate Change Advisory Council should equate to a total reduction of 51% emissions over the period to 2030, in line with the Programme for Government commitment

Public Sector Targets

The national Climate Action Plan set out 2030 targets for the Public Sector:

  • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51%
  • Increase the improvement in energy efficiency in the public sector to 50%