Measuring Ireland's Progress 2017

The 1997 Kyoto Protocol international treaty established goals for nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The EU 15 countries agreed to collectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8.0% on 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012. Ireland's responsibility towards this goal was not to exceed a 13.0% increase on 1990 levels.

In Ireland, greenhouse gas emissions fell below the Kyoto limit of 113.0% of 1990 levels between 1990 to 1996. However, in 1997 emissions were exactly at the Kyoto limit, and from there they increased to a peak of 128.6% in 2001. 

By 2009, Irish greenhouse gas emissions fell below the Kyoto limit again, and in 2011 decreased to a low of 104.7%. In recent years greenhouse gas emissions remained broadly at the 2011 levels, but started to increase in 2015, resulting in 2016 being the first year since 2008 that emissions exceeded the limits established in the Kyoto Protocol.

In 2016, Ireland's net greenhouse gas emissions were 113.4%, or  0.4% over the limit of 113.0%  established by the Kyoto Protocol.  

Four EU 28 countries apart from Ireland exceeded their Kyoto limits in 2016, namely Spain (1.4%), Slovenia (3.2%), Luxembourg (15.5%), and Austria (16.1%). 

 Lithuania's greenhouse gas emissions in 2016 fell 50.0% below the Kyoto limits, followed by Latvia (-48.2%), Romania (-46.2%), and Estonia (-43.4%).

The three main components of greenhouse gas emissions are carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrous oxide (N₂O), and methane (CH₄). The other gases that contribute to emissions are hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), perfluorocarbons (PFC), sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃). These latter four gases accounted for between 1.5% and 2.0% of total GHG emissions.

Total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions decreased from 68.1 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in 2007 to 57.1 million tonnes in 2011. GHG emissions then increased from 57.6 to 61.5 million tonnes between 2013 and 2016.

There was a 9.6% decrease in total greenhouse gas emissions between 2007 and 2016. In the same time period, there was a 16.2% decrease in CO₂ emissions, a 4.8% increase in N₂O emissions, and a 6.4% increase in CH₄ emissions.

Carbon dioxide emissions decreased from 47.6 to 36.7 million tonnes between 2007 and 2014, before increasing to 39.9 million tonnes in 2016.

All of the air pollutants included in the table above decreased between 2007 and 2016, with the exception of ammonia.

Sulphur dioxide emissions decreased by 74.5%, from 55,000 tonnes in 2007 to 14,000 tonnes in 2016.

Between 2007 and 2016, particulate matter (PM10) decreased by 31.0%, and fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) decreased by 31.8%. The main source of PM10 emissions is agricultural activity and household heating. The primary source of PM_2.5 particles is fuel combustion for household heating.

In the same time period, carbon monoxide emissions decreased by 45.4% and nitrogen oxide emissions decreased by 30.0%.

Ammonia emissions increased by a small amount from 109,000 tonnes to 117,000 tonnes between 2007 and 2016 (7.4% increase).

The annual average measure of particulate matter (PM10) in Dublin ranged from 17 to 19 μg/m³ between 2007 and 2010, before dropping to 14 μg/m³ in 2011. Between 2011 and 2017, the level of PM10 in Dublin ranged from 13 to 14 μg/m³.

The number of days the daily limit of PM10 was exceeded in Dublin declined from 7 in 2007 to 0 in 2012, before increasing to 3 days by 2017.

In Cork, the level of PM10 varied from a low of 15 to a high of 22 μg/m³ between 2007 and 2017.

Between 2007 and 2017, the average level of PM10 in towns with a population greater than 15,000 persons was in the range of 16 to 27 μg/m³. In 2017, the daily limit of PM10 was exceeded on 9 days out of the year.

The EU set a limit of 50 μg/m³ of PM10 in a 24 hour period, and this limit was not exceeded in Ireland at any point between 2007 and 2017.

The annual average fine particulate matter concentration (PM_2.5) in Dublin ranged from a high of 12 μg/m³ to a low of 9 between 2009 and 2017.

In Cork the level of fine particulate matter increased from 11 μg/m³ in 2009 to 15 in 2010, before dropping to 6 in 2017.

In towns greater than 15,000 persons, the level of fine particulate matter ranged from 10 μg/m³ in 2009 to 16 in 2010, but had dropped to 11 by 2017.

In rural areas, the level of fine particulate matter was 9 μg/m³ in 2017, the lowest since 2012.

No area had levels of PM_2.5 greater than the EU limit of 25 μg/m³, however there were some breaches of the World Health Organisation guideline value of 10.

Energy productivity measures the amount of output that is produced per unit of gross inland energy consumption and provides an indicator of the productivity of energy consumption.

Ireland's energy productivity increased from €12.5 per kilogram of oil equivalent (KGOE) in 2011 to €17.0 per KGOE in 2016. This was the highest energy productivity in the EU in 2016.

The EU average for energy productivity in 2016 was €8.5 per KGOE, with the lowest energy productivity in Bulgaria at €2.4 per KGOE.

The amount of municipal waste in Ireland dropped from 3.38 million tonnes in 2006 to 2.76 million tonnes in 2016, a decrease of 18.4%.

In the same time period, there was a 64.1% decrease in the quantity of waste landfilled and a 79.3% increase in the quantity of waste recovered. 

The quantity of municipal waste generated per person similarly decreased between 2006 and 2016, from 799.6kg to 583.0kg.

Waste recovered as a proportion of total waste generated rose from 33.1% in 2006 to 77.8% in 2014, before dropping to 72.6% in 2016.

About a quarter (25.7%) of municipal waste was sent to landfill in Ireland in 2016, just above the EU rate of 24.4%. 

Sweden, Belgium, and Denmark had very low percentages of waste landfilled (1.0% or less), and Switzerland sent no waste to landfill in 2016. These countries have very high rates of recycling and incineration.

In contrast, nearly 83% of waste in Malta and Greece went to landfill.

About a third (33.8%) of waste was recycled in Ireland in 2016, above the EU average of 29.2% and the third highest rate in the EU. 

Ireland incinerated 29.3% of its waste in 2016, above than the EU average of 27.5%. Three countries in the EU incinerated no waste: Latvia, Cyprus, and Croatia.

Ireland had the sixth highest quantity of waste generated per capita in the EU at 583kg. Denmark had the highest waste generated per capita (777kg) and Romania had the lowest (261kg).

In Ireland, the number of passenger cars per 1,000 people increased from 423 in 2012 to 439 by 2016. Ireland had the fifth lowest ratio of passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants in the EU in 2016. 

In 2016, Hungary had the lowest number of passenger cars at 338 per 1,000 in habitants, and Luxembourg had the highest at 662.

Virtually all (99.1%) of inland freight transport in Ireland went by roads in 2016 with just 0.9% transported on the railways. No inland freight used inland waterways in Ireland. 

Ireland had the highest percentage of freight travelling by road of those EU countries that had alternative transport options available. Malta and Cyprus have no rail or inland waterway transport so all of their inland freight travelled by road.

Latvia had the lowest percentage of freight transport travelling by road at 23.4% in 2016. Only one other country had more freight travelling by rail than by road: Lithuania had 35.0% of freight travelling by road and 65.0% travelling by railways. 

The Netherlands had the most freight travelling by inland waterways, at 44.6% in 2016, significantly higher than the EU average of 6.2%. Thirteen countries had no freight using an inland waterway system.