Climate Action is the most pressing long-term global challenge of our time and is, the Government state, a significant priority for them. As global temperatures increase so do the risks to people and to nature. Ireland is committed to playing its full part in EU and global efforts to avoid dangerous climate change and, in so doing, harness the opportunities and rewards that will come from moving quickly to a low-carbon society.
Through strengthened climate legislation, Ireland has the ambition of becoming climate neutral by 2050.
Long-term strategies for emissions reductions, with a perspective of at least 30 years, provide a vital link between short- and long- term climate policy. The importance of the preparation of such strategies is evident at national, EU and international level; through the national Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021, Regulation (EU) 2018/1999, and the Paris Agreement.
Ireland’s current Long-term Strategy on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions, which was approved by government in April 2023, sets out indicative pathways, beyond 2030, towards achieving carbon neutrality for Ireland by 2050. The Strategy builds upon the decarbonisation pathways set by the carbon budgets, sectoral emissions ceilings and Climate Action Plan 2023, to ensure coherent and effective climate policy. It is underpinned by analysis of transition options across each key sector of the economy and provides a crucial link between Ireland’s 2030 climate targets and the long-term goal set by Ireland’s National Climate Policy and the European Climate Law.
The current strategy has been shaped by cross-departmental input and responses received from a wide range of stakeholders to a public consultation in 2019 that remain very much relevant in the current policy context. A summary of the consultation responses received is published alongside the current Strategy. Notwithstanding this, given the significant developments in climate policy since then, this consultation is being undertaken as the basis for preparing an updated Strategy as committed to in the Annex of Actions that accompanied Climate Action Plan 2023. The updated Strategy will conform to the requirements for preparing a long-term climate strategy as set out under both national and EU law; and will be brought to Government for approval with a view to publishing and submitting it, as an updated version, to the European Commission by the end of 2023. This will help us deliver on our national, EU and international climate objectives.
The aim of this consultation is to gather stakeholder feedback on Ireland’s current Long-term Strategy and in particular on the following questions.
1) Following on from the 2019 consultation, is there anything new or incremental you think should be included in Ireland’s Long-term Strategy?
2) Does the current long-term strategy identify realistic emission reduction pathways beyond 2030, or are there alternative or complementary pathways worthy of further consideration?
3) Noting that the transition to climate neutrality requires systemic change and that it is critical to consider the factors that may contribute to or hinder progress of such a transition, are there enabling conditions to support the transition that you think require greater focus, if so, what are they?
4) Are there any other comments or observations that you wish to make regarding Ireland’s Long-term Strategy?
