Ireland produces more greenhouse gas pollution per person than any other country in the European Union, according to new data released just days before the COP30 climate conference.
The European Commission’s Climate Action Progress Report 2025 looked at detailed data for every EU member state with the aim of assessing “progress in meeting climate targets, as required by EU legislation.”
Many EU member states are facing uphill struggles to cut emissions ahead of the EU’s 2030 target of reducing emissions by 55 percent compared to 1990 levels.
But the report reveals in detail where Ireland is falling behind.
In 2024, Ireland produced 10.7 greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) per capita, the highest in the EU. Germany’s emissions were 5.8 per person, in France it was 3.6.
The per capita data was calculated by taking the total national greenhouse gas emissions figure and dividing it by population size to get an average emission per person.
Only countries outside the EU are performing worse than Ireland. China produced GHG emissions per capita of 10.8, the US 17.3 and oil exporter, Saudi Arabia 22.8.
The European Commission has now urged Ireland to “consider additional, urgent measures to align the expected greenhouse gas emission reductions and projections with the climate-neutrality objective.”
In response, the Irish government said that it was committed to net-zero by 2050 and that Ireland has written emission reductions by 2030 into law.
The government pointed to its Climate Action Plan 2025 as a demonstration that it is taking the issue seriously.
But it will have to be more than words if Ireland is to meet its commitments.
The European Commission estimates that, at the current rate, Ireland will still be the worst polluter in 2030. By 2050, it will be the second worst behind Latvia.
The government admits that the biggest problem is farming. Here again, it is the worst in Europe.
“Ireland and Denmark had the highest shares of GHG emissions from agriculture among all Member States (36 percent and 30 percent, respectively), followed by Lithuania (22 percent) and Latvia (20 percent)”, according to the report.
“Agriculture is the largest contributor to emissions in Ireland”, the government says.
However it has “strategies for emissions cuts in agriculture, including improved bovine genetics, sustainable fertilisers, and land use diversification.
Key actions include expanding organic and tillage sectors and producing biomethane. Additional developments include grants for low-emission farming practices and a new National Organic Strategy.”
The government is also working on “increasing forest cover and rehabilitating peatlands to enhance carbon sequestration, with continued efforts to adopt new practices and respond to environmental disruptions like recent storms.”
But so far, these measures are not enough.
Whilst other EU member states have cut agricultural pollution, the European Commission says Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions from farming have increased by four percent since 2005.
Ireland is currently pushing for a new derogation from the EU’s Nitrates Directive. The failure to cut agriculture emissions makes it harder to justify opting out of a key EU green policy for farming.
The pressure is on for Ireland to get a grip on its emissions.