'Limited' carbon reduction in 2020 highlights scale of work needed to meet 2030 targets

The Scottish Event Campus alongside the River Clyde in Glasgow, which will host the UN climate change conference. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Agriculture's dilemma when it comes to reducing emissions is in stark focus, with its emissions increasing by 1.4% in 2020.

New data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said this was driven by increased activity in all areas, including a 3.2% increase in the number of dairy cows.

The report lays bare the scale of Ireland's greenhouse gas reduction challenge, with emissions falling just 3.6% in 2020, despite the mass migration to remote working and reduction in commuting as a result.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said the 3.6% was less than the reduction seen in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic shut sectors down across the country.

There was a 15.7% decrease in transport emissions. However, working remotely and cheaper home fuel led to a 9% rise in emissions from residences. 

The 3.6% drop was borne mostly from a short-term decrease in transport emissions due to Covid-19, likely a once-off, the EPA warned.

Ireland's newly enacted Climate Bill has a reduction of 51% of emissions by 2030 targeted. Carbon budgets announced in October last year are now imminent, and will include all greenhouse gases in each five-year cycle and will allocate emissions ceilings to the likes of motorists, households, farmers, businesses, and industry.

Director general of the EPA, Laura Burke, said the 2020 figures show the sheer scale of what is going to be needed if the 2030 targets are to be met.

The limited reduction in emissions during 2020, at a time of profound change to economic and social activity due to the Covid-19 pandemic, highlight the scale of action needed across all parts of our economy and society to meet the 51% emissions reduction by 2030 set within the 2021 Climate Act," she said.

Urgent action is also necessary to avoid a growth in greenhouse gas emissions during post-Covid economic recovery, she warned.

It comes as a Greenpeace UK journalist obtained documents that showed countries such as Saudi Arabia, Norway, Japan, and Australia attempting to water down stark language about emissions from United Nations scientists ahead of the upcoming COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow, where world leaders will meet next month.

Phrases like 'the need for urgent and accelerated mitigation actions at all scales' should be eliminated from the report," one Saudi oil ministry official said.

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Micheál Martin says he rejects any argument that rising energy prices are a reason to disregard climate emergency policies.

In contrast, the Taoiseach said now is the time to accelerate emergency climate policies.

Mr Martin, speaking in Brussels, said, "We believe the crisis right now should motivate us to move faster in terms of decarbonising the economy but also the development of renewables."