Gormley to set target for emissions reduction

CARBON BUDGET:MINISTER FOR the Environment John Gormley will publish the third carbon budget in the Dáil today on the eve of his departure for Copenhagen for the UN conference on climate change.

The carbon budget reports on the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted in Ireland over the preceding 12 months and sets targets for emissions reduction. It also spells out the main measures that will be taken to meet targets.

It is expected Mr Gormley will announce a reduction in emissions for 2008 that was partly due to the recession. However, some of the gains in reducing transport emissions during 2008 were offset by the coldest winter for some years. The reductions for this year are believed to be more dramatic.

He is also expected to unveil details of proposed climate change legislation which he promised to make public before departing for Copenhagen.

Last March, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published new projections for greenhouse emissions which suggested that Ireland will be very close to achieving the targets set out in the Kyoto Protocol when it ends on January 1st, 2013. Ireland’s emissions came close to 70 million tonnes of CO2 per year during the economic boom, but could fall close to the target of 62 million tonnes by the end of 2012.