Carbon Online Conference & Exhibition

The challenge of closing the gap to our 2030 target, coupled with the broader policy objective of long-term decarbonisation across all sectors of the economy, requires both public and private investment and large societal shifts in technology, attitudes and behaviour, at an unprecedented pace. Specifically, Ireland requires a change in its overall emissions trajectory of the order of a 2% decline each year from 2021 to 2030 to meet our EU targets.

To meet the required level of emissions reduction, by 2030 the Government will implement a carbon tax rate of at least €80 per tonne by 2030, accompanied by a trajectory of increases over successive annual Budgets. Carbon pricing will have a key role to play in the transition to a low-carbon economy and has been recognised by the Climate Change Advisory Council as an important tool for Ireland to achieve its long-term decarbonisation objectives in a cost-effective manner by 2050.

The Journey to 2030 and 2050 An important factor in choosing policies to deliver the 2% per annum reduction is a realisation that in the period between 2030 and 2050, a much steeper decline of 7% per annum will have to be achieved based on achieving a minimum 80% emissions reduction by 2050, relative to 1990. One important implication of this for the period to 2030 is to ensure that all investment choices make sense in terms of decarbonising by 2050, and we avoid creating stranded assets by choosing what may appear to be cheaper options in terms of our 2030 decarbonisation goal.