Climate Advisory Council continues deliberations on carbon budgets

Members of the independent Climate Change Advisory Council are continuing to meet on Monday with a view to signing off on recommended greenhouse gas limits that will apply across all sectors of the economy up to 2030.

Once its recommendations are issued, the Government must set out how they will be applied to each sector, including the most challenging activities in transport, agriculture, heating, power generation and carbon-intensive industry.

Once adopted by the Cabinet and the Oireachtas, the Minister for Climate Eamon Ryan will use each carbon budget to prepare sectoral emissions ceilings for relevant sectors of the economy in consultation with other relevant ministers.

The CCAC, which includes leading climate science and energy experts, will set out options for each sector with a view to achieving a headline figure 51 per cent emissions cut by 2030, though the Government must set limits for each sector.

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This is to comply with a Paris Agreement target of keeping global temperature rise to within 1.5 degrees – and to enable Ireland transition to a net-zero economy by 2050. Both targets are contained in the 2021 Climate Act and are legally enforceable.

The CCAC, which is chaired by Marie Donnelly, began its meeting at 8.30 am and is due to release its final report by his evening.

It is also tasked with assessing performance in implement carbon budgets up to 2035 and beyond. The carbon budgets will also feed into a new climate action plan due to announced in draft form by the Government on November 3rd.