Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 February 2023
73. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications his views on the purchase of €4.1 million carbon credits from Slovakia; his further views on the increase in greenhouse gas pollution in Ireland in the third quarter of 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9029/23]
View answerEU Member States contributed collectively to the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol through the EU Effort Sharing Decision (ESD). The ESD set binding annual emissions reduction targets for each Member State and covered the sectors that do not fall under the EU Emissions Trading System; including transport, agriculture, buildings and light industry. The legislative framework of the ESD provided for a number of compliance options beyond direct emissions reductions, including using banked excess allowances from earlier years, purchasing international carbon credits, and trading surplus allowances between Member States. This approach provided flexibility among Member States to achieve targets as efficiently and fairly as possible – both in terms of their capacity to make the necessary reductions and the marginal abatement cost of doing so.
Ireland’s purchase of 4.15 million emissions allowances from Slovakia, at a cost of €2.9 million, enables us to close a gap to our 2020 compliance obligations in a way that maximises cost efficiency and secures the best possible value for the Irish taxpayer.
While final 2022 emissions data is not yet available, provisional data from the Environmental Protection Agency indicates that Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions increased by 4.7% in 2021 compared to 2020 and are now 1.1% above 2019 pre-COVID restriction levels. While an increase in emissions was anticipated, as the country emerged from the most severe Covid-19 restrictions, it is essential that we sustain our climate action ambition and accelerate full implementation of Climate Action Plan measures.
