As part of our newly launched Climate Action Hub, we are launching an ongoing Climate | Focus series of specialised research papers, blogs and commentaries intended to provoke thought and debate in this area of vital national interest. The first in the series considers the Climate Action Plan 2024.
The Houses of the Oireachtas Climate Action Hub brings together expertise from across the Service to enhance our provision of climate-related information, research and analysis. With input from our Library & Research Service, the Parliamentary Budget Office, the committees secretariat and the sustainability unit, this hub is a repository of information related to climate action in the Service.
The Climate | Focus series is available on our Climate Hub.
In the first of our Climate | Focus series, L&RS senior researcher Maggie Semple takes a look at Irish, European and global commitments to climate action; progress made in the Climate Action Plan 2023; and new high-impact actions in the Climate Action Plan 2024.
Some key points from our first instalment:
Irish, European and global commitments to climate action
Under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021, Ireland has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030 relative to 2018 levels and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Globally, a deal was reached at the 28th UN Climate Change Conference in December 2023 to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 43% by 2030 and to accelerate emissions reductions towards net zero by 2050.
Progress made in the 2023 Climate Action Plan
The Climate Action Plan 2023 progress report and the subsequent press release for CAP 2024 sets outs, among other things, the progress from measures carried out in 2023 across various sectors.
The Climate Action Plan 2024
The latest Climate Action Plan (2024) was approved by Government on 20 December 2023 and is the third annual update to the Climate Action Plan 2019. It aligns with legally binding carbon budgets and sectoral emissions ceilings approved and agreed respectively by Government in 2022. Public consultation on CAP 2024 is expected to commence early this year.