Is Ireland progressing towards meeting its targets under the UN Sustainable Development Goals?
Ireland’s Greenhouse Gas emissions were 61.5m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2eq) in 2021, which was 4.7% higher than 2020.
That’s according to the latest progress report from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), which is monitoring how Ireland is progressing towards meeting its targets under the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“Ireland’s contribution to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was €89.2m in 2020, up from €70.2m in 2019”
According to the CSO, emissions in 2021 were 1.1% above the 2019 pre-COVID-19 restriction levels data.
Greenhouse gas levels fell during Covid-19
“Ireland’s Greenhouse Gas emissions were 61.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2eq) in 2021, which was 4.7% higher than emissions in 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions had led to a significant lowering of emissions,” said Kevin McCormack, senior statistician at the CSO.
“Ireland’s contribution to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was €89.2m in 2020, up from €70.2m in 2019. This is also known as the contribution to the international USD $100bn commitment for climate finance under the UNFCCC.”
In 2021, Ireland announced a funding package of €3.5m aimed at assisting least developed countries adapt to the effects and impacts of climate change.
The funding package consists of two elements: €1 million to the National Adaptation Plan Global Network to support national-level adaptation in developing countries; and €2.5 million to the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), to support adaptation activities in some of the world’s most climate vulnerable countries.
According to the UN SDG Global Database for SDG 13.1.3, in Ireland, the proportion of local governments that adopted and implemented local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies was 100%.”
