The failure of Ireland to submit more demanding targets for reducing carbon emissions to the United Nations this week “is one more example that climate action just isn’t a priority for the new Government”, Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman has said.
The revised commitments – known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) – are supposed to be updated under the Paris Agreement but this year has been earmarked a critical one for scaled-up implementation due to adopted at Cop30 negotiations in Brazil next November – as global emissions continue to rise.
NDCs are plans countries must submit with detailed actions to cut emissions. “Ireland has been late in publishing its own climate action plan for 2025, and this now has delayed providing our updated NDC to the UN,” Mr O’Gorman said.
“I’ve already raised my concerns that there is a lack of ambition and a lack of detail around climate action in the new programme for government: no commitment to a carbon reduction target for 2040; no clarity about how the 2040 target will be decided, no figures for investment in big public transport projects,” he added.
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Only 13 of the 195 parties signed up to the Paris pact have published new emissions-cutting plans. Countries missing the deadline represent 83 per cent of global emissions and nearly 80 per cent of the world’s economy, according to analysis by Carbon Brief.
The lack of commitment has been condemned with developing countries accusing big carbon polluting countries of backsliding when the world needs deep, rapid and sustained reductions commensurate with trying to contain global temperature rise to within 1.5 degrees.
Many of the world’s largest emitters have cited technical issues, economic pressures and political uncertainty fuelled by the second term of US president Donald Trump as reasons why they have not been able to meet the deadline.
EU officials said the bloc’s lengthy process for approving new legislation made it “basically impossible” to meet the deadline – it has already flagged, however, it will commit to a 90 per cent reduction in emissions by 2040.
Fianna Fáil committed to this target in its election manifesto but it was not adopted in the programme for government.
A Department of Climate spokesperson said as “a member of the EU, Ireland submits a joint NDC with its EU colleagues and does not submit one on its own behalf”.
“The submission of NDCs in advance of Cop30 is a key milestone in the international climate process and in our collective efforts towards keeping warming below 1.5 degrees,” the spokesperson added.
The process at EU level was under way and Ireland would “continue to engage closely with EU partners to ensure an ambitious new NDC is submitted”.
Ireland, however, is out of step with many other EU member states which are already on a sustained path of cutting emissions, while the Environmental Protection Agency and Climate Change Advisory Council have warned current Government targets were unlikely to be met without corrective actions – let alone more ambitious ones.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell said last week the “vast majority of countries have indicated that they [will] submit new plans this year” and “taking a bit more time to ensure these plans are first-rate makes sense”.
But he warned that they needed to submit them “at the latest ... by September” so they can be included in the UN’s next global “synthesis” assessment of climate action in advance of Cop30.
A draft 2025 climate plan was completed by the outgoing government under then minister for climate Eamon Ryan but its adoption was held off because of the November election. It is understood its adoption is tied into putting in place a Cabinet subcommittee on climate action – possibly also tied into infrastructure delivery.
