The Government has published its Climate Action Plan, which sets out how it will achieve its ambitious goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030 and achieving net zero by 2050. Reacting to the plan, the Institute urged Government to rally businesses to achieve targets stating a collaborative approach is needed for decarbonisation targets to be met.
The plan aims to reduce Ireland’s dependence on fossil fuels, use indigenous renewable resources for power, improve home heating, and create jobs, and lists indicative ranges of emissions reductions for each sector of the economy.
Although overall carbon budgets have already been proposed to government by the Climate Change Advisory Council stating the total amounts of greenhouse gases that each sector can emit in a given five-year period, these carbon budgets have yet to go to Oireachtas for approval. Once they do the Governments will decide how that budget is divided out among different sectors of the economy.
The Climate Action Delivery Board will hold each Department and public body accountable for the delivery of actions set out in the Climate Action Plan and will present a delivery report to Government each quarter. The plan will be updated annually to ensure alignment with carbon budgets and sectoral ceilings.
Key highlights of this Plan include:
- Electricity
- A planned reduction in emissions from electricity by 62% – 81% from 2018 levels, with the phasing-out of coal and peat-fired electricity generation, and an increase in renewable electricity – wind and solar – of up to 80% by 2030
- A support scheme for micro-generation allowing homeowners to generate their own electricity and sell what they don’t use back to the national grid, with a separate small-scale generator scheme for farmers, business and communities to generate electricity and sell to the grid.
- Complete the phase-out of coal and peat-fired electricity generation
- A review of the data centre strategy to ensure the sector supports renewables and emissions targets
- Enterprise
- Launch of online Climate Toolkit 4 Business
- IDA, Enterprise Ireland and SEAI to promote investment and employment in decarbonisation, and align supports with emissions reduction
- A new obligation to ensure a proportion of energy for heat comes from renewable sources
- Homes & Buildings
- A new National Retrofit Plan to drive demand, with blended low-cost loans with SEAI grants to make retrofit affordable.
- Three more training centres for retrofit upskilling
- Phase-out use of fossil fuels for space and water heating in all new buildings, and promotion of use of electric heat pump or other low carbon technology in new and existing residential and commercial buildings
- Transport
- Increase in the number of electric vehicles to circa 1 million by 2030, to include 1,500 electric buses and around 850,000 electric cars by 2030
- Update of the public transport and public fleets to low emission alternatives, including the expansion of the electrification of rail fleet
- Enabling of 500,000 daily sustainable travel journeys by 2030 through major public transport projects, and expansion of rail services, cycling and walking infrastructure
- Agriculture, Land Use, Forestry and the Marine
- Land use review to ensure that optimal land use options inform all relevant government decisions
- Management of emissions from dairy herd and transformation of model of beef production, along with an increase in organically farmed land
- Review of diversification opportunities for farmers, including energy production, agroforestry and woodland creation, and increase in afforestation with new Forestry Programme to launch in 2023
- The Circular Economy
- Publication of whole of Government Circular Economy Strategy
- Reduction of food waste by 50% by 2030, ensure all plastic packaging is reusable or recyclable by 2030 and introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme in 2022
- Public Sector Leading by Example
- Reduction of emissions from the public sector by 51% by 2030, with Green Teams in every public body
- Prohibition of new fossil fuel heating systems in public buildings after 2023 (limited exceptions), andimprovement of energy efficiency of public sector from 33% in 2020 to 50% by 2030
- Introduction of Sustainable Mobility Policy in the Public Sector, and all new fleet purchases to be electric from 2023 (where vehicle type available)
- Just Transition to a Climate Neutral Ireland
- Establishment of a Just Transition Commission to integrate just transition principles into climate policy in all sectors, expansion of programmes in the Midlands with €84.5m from the EU Just Transition fund, and National Dialogue on Climate Action to be held, to include most affected groups
- International Action
- Preparation of Climate Finance Roadmap, and development of Climate Diplomacy Strategy
- Citizen Engagement and Community Leadership
- Improvement of climate literacy by promoting understanding of climate change through education and communications, promote active engagement at local level, and an increase in the number of Sustainable Energy Communities to 1,500 by 2030
- Adaptation
- Review of the National Adaptation Framework, research to support national, sectoral adaptation planning, assessment of the impact of climate change on key sectors, and inclusion of adaptation actions in sectoral policies.
- Carbon Pricing & Cross-Cutting Policies
- Expenditure and taxation policies to support the achievement of climate objectives, using increased carbon tax revenue for social protection measures, and expanded retrofitting for low income and social homes and agri-environment schemes
- Research, development and innovation in climate action to be supported
- Development of a sustainable and climate resilient financial system to be supported
- Digital transformation, sustainable remote working practices and the roll-out of the National Broadband Plan to be promoted.
Tax measures
The plan states that “taxation policy can play a central role in incentivising the behavioural change necessary to reduce our GHG emissions and to support additional environmental benefits.” In addition to increasing the annual rate of carbon tax until at least 2030, contained within the plan is a commitment to annually review and reform environmental tax measures including:
- Examining the introduction of an emissions-based tax regime for light goods vehicles
- Examining gradually phasing out VAT rebates on commercial fuel use where electric alternatives exist
- Examining the gradual equalisation of the diesel and petrol excise rates
- Introducing environmental criteria into the vehicle BIK regime, with its commencement sensitive to typical fleet renewal timescales
- Supporting the use of the accelerated capital allowance regime to promote business investment in energy efficient equipment and gas-powered commercial vehicles. These regimes will be reviewed in advance of their respective sunset clauses
- Assessing the role for taxation measures in meeting building retrofit targets set out in this plan
You can find information, guidance and supports to help members understand sustainability and meet the challenges it presents in our Sustainability Centre.
Read all our updates on our Public Policy web centre
LOADING...