Cutting carbon emissions to international targets is a “very major challenge” and action to reduce domestic emissions must be intensified, the Environmental Protection Agency warned today.
The EPA said that while the decrease of greenhouse gas emissions by 0.66 per cent last year over the previous year was welcome, the remaining distance to our target under the Kyoto protocol was “substantial”.
Director general of the EPA Dr Mary Kelly said the Kyto limit will be met by a combination of domestic action with some purchase of carbon credits, as allowed for under the protocol and provided for in the national Climate Change Strategy.
“Today's figures show that the Government's target of 3 per cent annual reductions in emissions remains extremely challenging and further emphasises that actions to reduce domestic emissions must be intensified and strengthened.”
Ireland's total emissions in 2007 of 69.28 million tonnes now almost 6.5 million tonnes (10.2 per cent) above our Kyoto limit of 62.84 million tonnes, the EPA said.
Dr Kelly said the rise in emission from the transport sector was continuing a “long-evident trend” with an increase of 4.7 per cent on 2006, similar to the increases seen from this sector over recent years.”
She said last year’s figure showed a 178 per cent increase on 1990 figures.
“Transport emissions made up almost 21 per cent of the 2007 total, most of which were generated by road transport (97 per cent).
“The increase reflects increasing vehicle numbers, a trend towards purchasing larger vehicles, an increased reliance on private cars and increasing road freight transport. Major efforts will be required to halt and reverse this trend.”
The EPA noted that emissions from agriculture continued to decrease and were down by 3.8 per cent last year, reflecting lower livestock numbers and decreased fertilizer use. “However agriculture remains the single largest contributor to overall emissions at almost 27 per cent. The potential impact of EU and world trade changes on agricultural output needs to be closely monitored,” Dr Kelly said.
There was a decrease of 3.7 per cent for energy industries, which follows a similar decrease in the previous year.
The EPA said displacement of oil by natural gas largely accounts for the decrease in emissions in energy industries but that emissions from this sector were 26.7 per cent higher than in 1990.
Announcing its projections for carbon emissions, the EPA said that meeting Kyoto targets in 2012 would be possible with the extra purchase of carbon credits.
But Dr Ken Macken of the EPA's climate change unit said that meeting the 2020 targets would be "much more difficult with the non-trading sector projected to exceed the EU proposed target by 7 million tonnes".
"It will be essential to reduce Ireland's dependence on fossil fuels and ensure that very significant increases are achieved in the use of alternative energy sources. The role of research will be crucial, particularly in regard to examining all possible options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture and transport sectors, but also in regard to identifying and implementing new technology options. The inclusion of forest sinks will be crucial for Ireland," he said.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley yesterday said a 1 per cent reduction in carbon emissions last year was “painstakingly slow” progress.
Mr Gormley announced his second carbon budget yesterday to criticism from Fine Gael and the Labor Party, who said the exercise was a “farce” and a “political charade”.