The government has admitted that it is failing to meet its climate ambitions and is an embarrassment compared to other European countries.
The admission is contained in a new report entitled “Understanding Life in Ireland”.
Whilst Ireland is performing well against its peers in areas like health and employment opportunities, when it to environment credentials, Ireland’s record it woeful.
- “Ireland’s level of [greenhouse gas] emissions for 2023 in tonnes per capita was the highest of all EU member states”
- “In the latest water body assessment (2020-2023), 55.3 percent of Ireland’s rivers were assessed as ‘high’ or ‘good’ (the top two ratings out of five), down from 56.2 percent in the period from 2016 to 2018.”
- “In 2020, 7.6 percent of households in Ireland reported problems with pollution, grime or other environmental problems in their local area – up from 4.7 percent in 2015”
- “Waste generated per capita (a sustainability indicator) in Ireland increased from 595 kg in 2018 to 612 kg in 2022…This is worse than the EU average of 515 kg per capita.”
The findings are concerning, especially because tougher targets are coming down the track.
Under European law which Ireland signed up to, Ireland is suppose to significantly decrease waste, clean up water and air pollution and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The slower the progress now, the harder it will be for Ireland to catch up with these targets later.
Commenting on the report, Taosieach Micheál Martin said:
“Ireland’s Well-being Framework enables us to assess how the country is faring across a broad spectrum of areas which affect peoples’ daily lives. It is encouraging that this analysis once again shows that Ireland is making progress overall, and that our population is generally happy, well connected and highly skilled. This report is an important reminder, however, that not everyone experiences this progress equally.
“The Well-being Framework is now well established in the Irish policy making system and is an important tool for Government as we work to improve the quality of life for all our people as part of our next Budget and beyond.”
The government also pointed to its successes which are also flagged in the report:
“Dimensions where Ireland performs better overall when compared internationally include: Work and Job Quality (driven by data for weekly earnings and employment rates) and Mental and Physical Health (driven by lower numbers reporting depression).
Ireland continues to perform less well over time and in comparison with other countries in the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity dimension.”