1.1.1 Climate Action Plan

1.1.1 Climate Action Plan

In Ireland, where climate change and its impacts are a key concern of citizens7, the Government is firmly committed to action. This has been shown clearly over the last number of years, leading up to the Climate Action Plan 2023.

MJuly 2022: The Government established

sectoral emission ceilings for relevant sectors of the economy. Under these ceilings, the transport sector is obligated to achieve a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030.

MJune 2019: The first all-of-Government

Climate Action Plan was published, setting out a pathway to reducing key greenhouse gas carbon emissions from all sectors.

MDecember 2022: Publication of the Climate

Action Plan 2023. This will be the first statutory Climate Action Plan to take the legally-binding carbon budget programme and sectoral emissions ceilings into account, and each sector must set out a clear action plan and pathway to meeting its emissions abatement targets.

MJune 2020: The Programme for Government

(2020) committed to achieving a 7% average annual carbon emissions reduction to 20308.

MJuly 2021: The Climate Action and Low Carbon

Development (Amendment) Act 20219 came into effect. Ireland’s ultimate objective of achieving carbon neutrality by 2020 (through a just transition) was made legally-binding through this act.

Transport is closely tied to economic growth as well as being heavily reliant on fossil fuels. As a result, it has a key role to play in the fight against climate change. In Ireland, transport is responsible for about a fifth of our total national carbon emissions, with passenger cars accounting for nearly half of the transport total11. Because of this, transitioning the Irish transport sector away from the use of fossil fuels and towards sustainable forms of travel is a key objective in the achievement of Ireland’s climate goals.

MNovember 2021: A new Climate Action Plan

was published in 202110 to reflect increased climate action ambitions. It also mapped out (on a sector-by-sector basis) the actions to be taken to achieve a 51% reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

MApril 2022: The carbon budget programme

(proposed by the Climate Change Advisory

4 https://www.un.org/en/un75/climate-crisis-race-we-can-win, accessed 04/03/2022.

5 https://www.rte.ie/news/environment/2019/0509/1048525-climate-emergency/, accessed 04/03/2022.

6 https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-working-group-i/, accessed 04/03/2022.

7 For example, see Leiserowitz, A. et al. (2021) Climate Change in the Irish Mind, New Haven, CT: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication; see also https://www.epa.ie/news-releases/news-releases-2022/epa-survey-shows-climate-change-remains-themost-pressing-environmental-issuefacing-ireland.php; accessed 04/03/2022.

8 https://assets.gov.ie/130911/fe93e24e-dfe0-40ff-9934-def2b44b7b52.pdf; accessed 04/03/2022.

9 https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2021/act/32/enacted/en/print; accessed 21/11/2022.

10 Climate Action Plan 2021

11 In 2019, transport was responsible for 20.4% of national greenhouse gas emissions, with a drop of 15.7% in 2020 due to the impacts of Covid restrictions on travel. With the lifting of restrictions, transport emissions have once again started to climb towards pre-pandemic levels, with increases across the whole road network in the first quarter of 2022.

The ‘Avoid, Shift, Improve’ approach prioritises sustainable mobility. As part of the ‘Improve’ element, electrification has been identified as having a key role in decarbonising transport. Together with increasing walking and cycling (active travel), expanding the use of public transport, and reducing the number of fossilfuelled trips, replacing internal combustion engines with renewable electric technologies will contribute to a significant reduction in greenhouse gases. As well as lowering carbon emissions, electrification of the vehicle fleet offers a pathway to zero tailpipe air-pollutant emissions. Benefits include improved air quality and reduced noise pollution, particularly in our cities and towns.

by 2030. The Fit for 55 package was submitted to the European Council in July 2021. It is being discussed across several policy areas, such as environment, energy, transport, and economic and financial affairs.

Within the Fit for 55 package, the EU Commission proposed to revise rules on CO2 emissions for cars and vans. The proposal introduces increased EU-wide reduction targets for 2030 and sets a new target of 100% for 2035. In practice, this means that from 2035 it will no longer be possible to place cars or vans with an internal combustion engine on the market in the EU. The Council adopted its general approach on the proposal in June 2022, and an agreement with the European Parliament was reached in October 2022. The agreement will now have to be formally adopted by the two institutions.

Under the National Development Plan12, the electrification of the vehicle fleet has been identified as a strategic investment priority for transport, with an aim to have approximately 30% of the vehicle fleet electrified by 2030.

In Ireland, our national EV infrastructure systems will also be shaped by updated EU legal structures and new guidelines that will be drawn up as part of the Fit for 5516 package to help member states reach their carbon emissions reduction targets.

Having an effective and reliable charging network is an essential part of enabling drivers to make the switch to electric vehicles. It is also an essential part of ensuring just and equal access to EVs across Ireland, including in rural areas13. This strategy is intended as a tool to deliver this infrastructure, and its remit is clearly set out in Action 27114 of the Climate Action Plan, which is to: