Climate change is challenging for Irish agriculture both in the context of greenhouse gas emissions and the need for adaptation of farming practices to be more resilient to the impacts of climate change. In Ireland the Agriculture sector was directly responsible for 37.8% of national Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) emissions in 2023, mainly methane from livestock, and nitrous oxide due to the use of nitrogen fertiliser and manure management.
Sectoral emissions in the Energy Industries sector show an decrease of 21.6% in 2023 which is attributable to reductions in coal, fuel oil and natural gas use (-44.3%, -78.2%, and -7.2%) in electricity generation. There was a substantial increase in the amount of imported electricity, accounting for 9.5% of electricity supply in 2023.
In 2023 renewables accounted for 40.7%, (an increase from 38.6% in 2022).
Emissions from electricity generation had decreased year-on-year from 2016 to 2020, but 2021 and 2022 has seen an increase in emissions of 1.4-1.6 million tonnes compared to 2020 respectively. The return to using more carbon intensive fuel along with less renewables and natural gas plant availability played a big part in changing the trend as well as an increasing demand for electricity. In 2023, this trend reversed with 2.2 million tonne reduction despite electricity demand increasing by 3%.
Between 1990 and 2023, Transport shows the greatest overall increase of GHG emissions at 129.2%, from 5,143.3 kt CO2 eq in 1990 to 11,790.8 kt CO2 eq in 2023, with road transport increasing by 133.6%. Fuel combustion emissions from Transport accounted for 9.3% and 21.4% of total national greenhouse gas emissions in 1990 and 2023, respectively. The increase in emissions up to 2007 can be attributed to general economic prosperity and increasing population, with a high reliance on private car travel as well as rapidly increasing road freight transport. Over the time series passenger car numbers increased by 191% and commercial vehicles increased by 177%. Both the increase in transport emissions up to 2007 and the subsequent fall during the financial crisis highlight that transport emissions have not yet been effectively decoupled from economic activity through sustainable planning or electrification.