Business in Ireland 2023 – Environmental, Social, Governance of Enterprises

Introduction

This chapter looks at how the activities of Irish enterprises can impact upon environmental performance. Increasingly, society has expectations around the contribution that Irish enterprises can make to the achievement of our national climate goals. We begin by setting the scene in terms of overall greenhouse gas emissions by Ireland. Emission levels have begun to decline in recent years (showing a certain decoupling between economic growth and emissions), but there is still a distance to travel to meet our 2030 emissions reduction targets. We see an increase in the share of renewables in electricity generation, but data centres are also increasing their level of energy consumption. This chapter will also highlight a strong reliance on fossil fuels for energy generation, particularly by the Transport sector. When we look at waste generation, we see that in 2022 the Manufacturing sector was responsible for just under one third of Ireland's waste generation.

Greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 were 10.3% lower than 2018. The National Climate Ambition is for 2030 emissions to be 51% lower than 2018.

Territorial emissions are emissions produced on the territory of Ireland. They are reported annually by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and are used to determine whether Ireland has met its legally binding emissions targets. 

Final greenhouse gas territorial emissions for Ireland for 2023, show a reduction of 6.8% compared to 2022, with emission reductions in almost all sectors. In total, 54.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO₂eq) were emitted, excluding emissions from Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF).

With regard to compliance with national commitments under the Climate Act 2015, greenhouse gas territorial emissions (including LULUCF) are 10.3% lower than in 2018, with a distance to travel to the National Climate Ambition of a 51% reduction by 2030. See Figure 2.1 and Table 2.1.

Emissions from the Industrial sector have reduced by 11% since 2018, and accounted for 12.7% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2023

Emissions from the Industrial sector have reduced by 11% since 2018 and accounted for 12.7% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2023, with other sectors contributing as follows:

• Agriculture was the sector with the highest greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland over the 2018-2023 period, accounting for almost 38% of the total CO₂ equivalent in 2023.
• The Transport share of greenhouse gas emissions amounted to 21.4% in 2023.
• The Energy sector’s share of greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 was the third largest sectoral contributor to emissions with 14.3% of the total. Emissions from the Energy sector have reduced by 25% since 2018.
• Residential emissions have decreased from almost 11.4% in 2018 to less than 10% in 2023.

See Figure 2.2, Table 2.2 (a) and Table 2.2 (b).

Services sector accounted for 58% of business energy use in 2023

The Business Energy Use Survey measures the energy consumption of Irish resident enterprises and includes fuel used in international flights of Irish resident airlines abroad.

The overall quantity of energy use by Irish resident enterprises, in kilotonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe), fell by 2% in 2023.

• In 2023, energy use by the Industry sector decreased by 12% while energy use by the Services sector increased by 7%.
• The quantity share of energy use by the Services sector increased from 53% in 2022 to 58% in 2023. This increase was mainly due to a 9% increase in use of jet kerosene by Irish resident airlines in 2023. See Figure 2.3 and Table 2.3.

Transportation and Storage NACE Sector consumed 43% of business energy in 2023

The Business Energy Use survey does not include the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing NACE sector. Across the Industry and Services sectors we see that:

• 43% of energy use in 2023 was consumed by the Transportation and Storage sector (6,033 ktoe), with aviation fuels accounting for 92% of this.
• The Electricity and Gas sector was the next highest with 22% of total energy use in 2023.
• Manufacture of Food, Beverages and Tobacco accounted for 5% and Information and Communication for 5% of energy use.

See Figure 2.4 and Table 2.4.

The enterprise economy was heavily reliant on non-renewable energy sources in 2023

Irish enterprises are increasing their use of clean energy, with a 7% rise in the use of electricity in 2023. However, the enterprise economy was heavily reliant on non-renewable energy sources in 2023 with 83% of energy consumption provided by a combination of aviation fuels (40%), natural gas (29%), solid and petroleum fuels (8%), and other transport fuels (6%). The corresponding total for 2022 was 84%. In 2023, enterprises reduced their use of solid and petroleum fuels by four percentage points, but this was offset by a four percentage point increase in the use of aviation fuels in 2023. See Figure 2.5, Table 2.5 (a) and Table 2.5 (b).

Data centres accounted for one fifth of metered electricity consumption in 2023.

The percentage share of electricity generated from renewable sources is increasing. In 2023, 40.7% of electricity was generated from renewable sources . The corresponding figure in 2018 was 33.1%. Over 80% of Ireland's renewable electricity was generated by wind in 2023. The proportion of electricity used by data centres is also on the increase. In 2023, data centres consumed 21% of metered electricity, an increase from 8% in 2018. See Figure 2.6 and Figure 2.7, Table 2.6 and Table 2.7.

In 2022, just under one third of waste generated in Ireland was from Manufacturing activities.

Ireland generated 15,348,488 tonnes of waste in 2022, a decrease of 5.2% since 2020. Most of the decrease was due to a decline in waste generated by the Construction sector, which fell by 46% between 2020 and 2022 (likely to have been influenced by the COVID-19 restrictions in place at that time).

When we look at the sectoral distribution of wase In 2022, we see that:

• Manufacturing activities generated 31% of waste.
• The Construction sector generated 19% of waste.
• Water supply, Sewerage and Waste Management produced 13% of waste and the Services sector accounted for a further 12%. See Figure 2.8 and Table 2.8.