Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions were 4.7 per cent higher last year when compared with 2020, new research shows.
Figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions were 61.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2021, which was 4.7 per cent higher than 2020.
The 2020 figure was during a time when Covid-19 restrictions had led to a significant lowering of emissions.
The CSO has published Ireland’s UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – Goal 13 Climate Action 2021.
Ireland’s Greenhouse Gas emissions were 4.7% higher in 2021 when compared with 2020https://t.co/QWf9P4Wy5U #CSOIreland #Ireland #SDGs #MeasuringProgress #SustainableDevelopment #Statistics #RegionalLife #IrishCounties pic.twitter.com/uIpqDtdaU9
Advertisement— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) August 5, 2022
This report is the thirteenth in a series of CSO publications which monitor how Ireland is progressing towards meeting its targets under the 17 UN SDGs.
Ireland’s contribution to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was 89.2 million euro in 2020, an increase of 19 million euro from 2019.
In 2021, Ireland announced a funding package of €3.5 million aimed at assisting the least developed countries adapt to the effects and impacts of climate change.
All local government bodies in Ireland have adopted and implemented local disaster risk reduction strategies.
CSO senior statistician Kevin McCormack said: “This new report, Goal 13 Climate Action 2021, has data on eight indicators for Ireland, divided over two chapters, climate and strategy.
“Data are presented in categories such as gender, age group, vulnerable groups and geographical location, where possible.
“The SDGs and their associated indicators are, by design, wide-ranging in their coverage.
“As a result, the Irish data is provided by a number of sources including Government departments, official organisations and international organisations such as the UN.
“The publication for Goal 13 was developed in collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).”
He added: “Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions were 61.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2021, which was 4.7 per cent higher than emissions in 2020.
“Emissions in 2021 were 1.1 per cent above the 2019 pre-Covid-19 restriction levels data.
“Ireland’s contribution to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was 89.2 million in 2020, up from 70.2 million in 2019.
“This is also known as the contribution to the international $100 billion commitment for climate finance under the UNFCCC.”
Ireland’s €3.5 million funding package aimed at assisting the least developed countries consists of two elements, including €1 million to the National Adaptation Plan Global Network to support national-level adaptation in developing countries.
The other contributed €2.5 million to the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), to support adaptation activities in some of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries.
Mr McCormack added: “According to the UN SDG Global Database for SDG 13.1.3, in Ireland, the proportion of local governments that adopted and implemented local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies was 100 per cent.”
