The recession caused Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions to fall by 5.4 million tonnes (7.9%) last year – but we’re still not in compliance with our Kyoto Protocol targets.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions fell across all sectors last year, most noticeably in the industry and commercial sector where there was a 20% drop.
But the EPA reckons that in 2008 and 2009 we were still 6.2 million tonnes above our target ‘limit’ under the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse emissions. Agriculture remains the single biggest contributor to Ireland’s emissions, at 29.1% of the total.
Dr Mary Kelly, director general of the EPA, said Ireland should use the recession as an “opportunity to embed fundamental emission reductions in the economy in order to meet the very stringent EU 2020 limits which we face.”
“We should not rely on a recession to meet our targets for the future,” she warned.
Ireland's expe
rience tallies with that across Europe. Last month, the European Environment Agency (EEA) reported that emissions across the EU's 27 states fell by 6.9% last year. The EEA says this puts Europe's emissions 17.3% below 1990 levels.
In Ireland last year, emissions from agriculture decreased by only 0.3 million tonnes (1.5 %). This decline is thought to reflect lower sheep and pig numbers and a reduction in gasoil use on farms. Residential emissions fell by less than 1%.
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