Ireland will match EU’s ambition to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030, Ryan says

The Government will be working in partnership with the EU to achieve the "radical transformation required across our economy and society to meet the challenge of climate change", according to Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Eamon Ryan.

Welcoming European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen's commitment to increase the EU-wide greenhouse gas emissions reduction target "to at least 55 per cent by 2030", Mr Ryan said this ambition would be matched by Ireland.

The EU’s increased climate target was outlined in her first annual State of the Union address to MEPs on Wednesday.

“The Government welcomes the increasing impetus and focus at EU level on climate action. This includes the vision set out in the Green Deal, published in December 2019, which aims to deliver net-zero greenhouse gas emissions at EU level by 2050,” he added.

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The Programme for Government sets out the Government’s commitment to an average 7 per cent per annum reduction in overall emissions from 2021 to 2030 – a 51 per cent reduction over the decade – and to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, Mr Ryan said.

The Climate Action (Amendment) Bill was being drafted as a priority, and was expected to be published shortly, he confirmed. “The Bill will significantly strengthen the statutory framework for governance of the climate challenge in Ireland, establish a 2050 target into law and introduce a legal requirement for Government to adopt a successive series of three economy-wide carbon budgets and decarbonisation ranges for each relevant sector.”