Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions rank second-highest in the EU despite fall

Emissions in Ireland fell by 3.1% from an average of 56.7 million tonnes in 1990-1994 to 55 million tonnes in 2023. File photo: David Creedon

Ireland had the second-highest greenhouse gas emissions per capita in the EU in 2022, as it grapples with ever warmer, wetter weather, the Central Statistics Office has said.

Publishing its set of environmental indictors for Ireland in 2024 across 10 key themes, and comparing us to countries in Europe and further afield, the CSO statistics present a mixed bag in terms of progress on important metrics.

It said that the proportion of rivers and streams in Ireland with high water quality decreased from 27% in 1987-1990 to just 16% in the period covering 2020-2023.

Furthermore, fossil fuel subsidies in Ireland reached €4.7bn in 2022 as temporary Government supports such as the electricity credit and tax reductions on petrol and diesel were introduced in response to rising energy prices.

On energy prices, the CSO said that households’ electricity bills have tripled since the peak of the Celtic Tiger in 2006.

Statistician Reamonn McKeever said: “In terms of global warming, 2023 was the warmest year on record in the world between 1850 and 2023, as measured by global mean near surface temperature deviations compared with pre-industrial 1850-1899 levels.

“The highest average annual temperature in Ireland over the 1961-2023 period occurred in 2023 at 10.96C , while 2023 was also the wettest year in Ireland over the period between 1941 and 2023, with rainfall of 1,511mm.

“China was the world’s highest producer of greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 at 13.9 billion tonnes, up 204% from its 1990-1994 average figure. By contrast, emissions by the EU-27 fell by 27% over the same time frame. Emissions in Ireland fell by 3.1% from an average of 56.7 million tonnes in 1990-1994 to 55 million tonnes in 2023.” 

Other figures highlighted by the CSO on progress made in recent decades include that just 1% of urban wastewater received no treatment in 2023 compared with 41% in the late 1990s.

Renewable energy is also on an upturn, accounting for 41% of electricity generation in 2023 which is up from just 5% from 1990-1994. The proportion of municipal land waste sent to landfill has fallen from an average of 67% in the early 2000s to 14% in 2022.

On the other hand, the number of new homes completed fell last year. Despite Government pledges it would approach 40,000 new homes, the actual number completed was 30,330, a drop of 6.7% on 2023’s total.

Meanwhile, from 2006 to 2019, 2.7% of 3,140 assessed species in Ireland were found to be regionally extinct.

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In the new Programme for Government, the coalition has said it will “ensure continued climate progress while growing the economy”. This includes continuing work towards the binding 51% reduction in emissions from 2018 to 2030, with net zero emissions no later than 2050.

However, upon the nomination of Micheál Martin as Taoiseach in the Dáil last week, Labour leader Ivana Bacik said that while it was welcome that climate targets are retained, there is “no meaningful pathway” set for how to achieve them.

“What is worse is the slashing of funds for cycling, public transport and sustainable transport in favour of building more roads,” she said, although this claim was refuted from the Government benches.

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