Ireland can become energy independent within a generation, says Varadkar

The Taoiseach has insisted Ireland can secure energy independence within a generation as he launched the Government’s updated climate action plan.

Leo Varadkar said harnessing the country’s untapped renewable energy resources could deliver energy security and price stability.

The plan sets out how the Government will achieve agreed sectoral emission reduction targets and an overall 51% reduction of emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

It includes measures to reduce car journeys and steps to gradually phase out parking spaces at public sector buildings.

The moves to wean Ireland off dependency on cars come with steps to improve public transport and active travel.

The plan includes a target of producing enough renewable energy to power every home and business in the country by 2030.

The Government wants to see one in three cars to be electric by 2030.

Other measures include a plan for 70% of people in rural Ireland to have access to buses that travel to the nearest town three times a day and a target of retrofitting 500,000 homes to make them easier to heat.

The Government wants walking, cycling and public transport to account for 50% of daily trips in Ireland.

The plan also aims for tillage farming to cover up to 400,000 hectares by 2030.

Speaking in Dublin, Mr Varadkar said: “We find ourselves at a moment of real opportunity for our country, and for the planet.

“Climate change is the most pressing long-term global challenge of our time and Ireland is facing up to that challenge.

“We should not see climate action as an obligation or a burden. We should embrace it as an opportunity.

“It’s about warmer homes, cleaner air, fewer journeys, less time commuting, more remote and home-working, more jobs and regional development.

“We should be the generation that turns the tide on climate change and biodiversity loss, and leaves the planet to the next generation in a better condition than we inherited it.

“Within a generation, Ireland can become energy independent by harnessing our untapped renewable energy resources.

“We can reap the rewards for our people that come with it – greater energy security, stable prices, new industries producing green fertilisers and green hydrogen, more jobs and regional development.”

For a 75% reduction in emissions in the electricity sector, the plan includes an acceleration of onshore and offshore wind and solar energy.

It envisages the phasing out of coal and peat in electricity generation.

The plan also proposes a green electricity tariff by 2025 that will incentivise people to use lower-cost, renewable electricity at times of high wind and solar generation.

It aims to install heat pumps in 45,000 existing dwellings and 170,000 new ones by 2025, increasing to 400,000 and 280,000 respectively by 2030.

To achieve a 50% reduction in transport emissions, the Government has set a series of targets to improve public transport and active travel programmes, while supporting the switch to biofuels and electric vehicles (EVs).

Measures include reallocating road space for more frequent public transport, with 300 EV buses and 125,000 more sustainable journeys by 2025, and 1,500 EV buses by 2030.

The plan seeks to cut the total distance driven across all car journeys by 20%.

It sets out steps to support the farming industry to achieve its goal of reducing emissions by 25%, including by a significant reduction in the use of chemical nitrogen as a fertiliser to a maximum of 300,000 tonnes.

Other measures include increasing organic farming to 450,000 hectares and reducing methane emissions from livestock through measures such as earlier finishing of beef cattle, improved animal breeding and better feeding.

The Government intends to support livestock farmers’ transition to alternative land uses through diversification options including increased organic farming, forestry and tillage and expanded biomethane targets.

The plan aims to reduce emissions produced by enterprise and industry by 35%.

The blueprint also sets targets around land use, with the goal of increasing annual afforestation rates to 8,000 hectares per annum from 2023 onwards.

The Government also wants to rehabilitate 77,600 hectares of peatlands.

At the launch, Tanaiste Micheal Martin said the invasion of Ukraine had “underlined the need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels”.

“Ireland must be at the vanguard of the noticeable step-up in climate ambition that is under way across the EU,” he said.

“The Government will continue to provide strong leadership through this ambitious plan. Ministers now have legal responsibility to ensure that each sector is equipped and supported to achieve the emissions reductions demanded of them.

“Achieving our objectives on climate change is a national endeavour that will require a positive, sustained engagement from people across all communities.

“Government will play its full part but no sector is, or can be, unaffected by this shared, all-encompassing transition that we have embarked upon.”

Environment minister Eamon Ryan added: “The biggest challenge we face over the coming decade is what we do collectively as a country to tackle climate change and provide for a better environment for our children and grandchildren.

“We have written into law one of the strongest climate laws in the world, and the Programme for Government is the greenest ever seen. But this is not enough. We are facing three ecological crises: climate, biodiversity loss and pollution.

“There must be a dramatic shift. We must change.

“But we can and will be good at this. Our potential to be climate leaders is huge, and now we need to ramp up our ambition.

“Global emissions have continued to increase, as they have here in Ireland, so the scale of change needed to reduce them is unprecedented. To stay ahead of the climate curve, we must implement our plans urgently.”