TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has said the government is not conceding that it will not meet its climate commitments. 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stated in a report that nearly all sectors are on track to exceed their emissions ceilings for 2025 and 2030. 

It claims that Agriculture, Electricity Transport and Industry are all way off meeting their emissions targets.

Speaking to reporters in Bloom in Phoenix Park today, Varadkar said the government is “not conceding” that it will miss its targets. 

He said the government has multiple climate change targets, stating that he believes “people focus a bit too much on the targets and on the strategies and on the legislation, and not enough on implementation”.

“And what the EPA said today, I entirely agree with, is that we now need to focus relentlessly on action and implementation,” he said. 

Striking a balance

The government is trying to reduce greenhouse emissions, “but doing it in such a way that doesn’t cost jobs, doesn’t reduce people’s living standards, doesn’t impede rural development”, he said, adding: 

There’s always a balance to be struck.

“Take, for example, the housing crisis. We have a terrible housing crisis now in Ireland at the moment. Building houses, because it involves concrete, even if it involves timber, has an impact on the environment, building all the roads and the infrastructure to connect to that.

“So we have to see things in the round. But as a country, we’re determined to make sure that we decouple economic growth from Co2 emissions. And that’s the priority,” said Varadkar. 

He said he isn’t afraid to make the tough decisions when it comes to climate action.

“We have the targets, we have the law, we have the strategies, we have the plans, the focus now has to be on implementation and execution. And that involves, for example, pressing ahead with our plans for renewable energy, particular for offshore wind and solar, for reducing emissions from industry, retrofitting homes, all those things,” said the Taoiseach. 

‘We do need a nature restoration directive’ says Micheál Martin, who says he believes it can be achieved.

Tanaiste and Taoiseach are visiting Bloom in the Phoenix Park today. pic.twitter.com/Sv4eI5M3gR

— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) June 2, 2023

Similarly, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said he took on board what the EPA was saying, but said he still believes targets can be achieved. He said there are some areas that are not modeled for or included in the EPA review. 

“Perhaps in the previous 10 years, we didn’t move fast enough in respect of the emissions reduction agenda. But that said, there are some areas that have not yet been modeled in respect of the EPA assessment,” he said.

“I think we can gain in terms of some of the actions that haven’t quite been taken into account. But I don’t underestimate the challenge ahead of us in respect to reducing emissions,” Martin said. 

‘Not the full story’

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said the EPA projections today “make for sobering reading” and “leave us in little doubt that Ireland has a steep challenge ahead of us”.

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“The projections must be seen as an incentive now to act even more urgently. We need to be much faster and more ambitious, particularly in how projects get through the planning system. We also need stronger political commitment to climate action at all levels – in local politics, at a national level and in Europe,” he added. 

Ryan also said the EPA projections, while an important warning bell, “do not tell the full story”.

“They do not take account of high impact actions that the EPA cannot yet model and they do not include the unaccounted for emissions reductions we have allocated to areas like land use,” he said.

Marie Donnelly, Chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council said in a statement that the EPA report lays bare the scale of the challenge that Ireland faces if it remains within our carbon budgets.

“Growth in our population and the economy is very positive but it must take place in a way that decouples this growth from emissions.

The government needs to set out credible and detailed implementation plans, she said, adding that every sector of the economy is required to play its part, with support being provided by government to the most vulnerable people in communities throughout Ireland.