Find out about the current state of Ireland's environment. Read about the current trends, causes, what's being done and outlook for each topic. Check out our additional resources and the most recent State of the Environment report: Ireland’s Environment - An Integrated Assessment 2020. Access its key messages and products.
Reduce your transport carbon footprint, improve the energy efficiency of your home and avoid food waste - climate actions you can take every day.
A clear national policy position for Ireland’s environment is required together with more integrated, coherent and ambitious environmental policy frameworks.
Highlights identified in the State of the Environment report
13Act on the highlights identified in Ireland’s Environment: An Integrated Assessment 2020. These outline the scale of the challenges to be tackled.
Protecting the environment is an investment in our health and wellbeing.
Food crops relying on animal pollination to produce healthy and nutritious foods
75%Climate disruption, chemical exposure, and underinvestment in drinking water and wastewater treatment infrastructure are risks to our environment and our health.
Promote integrated land-mapping approaches to support decision-making on sustainable land use.
Agriculture is the primary land cover type in Ireland and covers
67.6%Good spatial planning can optimise economic development opportunities and ecosystem services while reducing social inequities and people's exposure to environmental pressures.
Ireland’s climate is changing. More urgency is needed to deliver climate mitigation and adaptation actions. The scale and pace of greenhouse gas emissions reductions must accelerate.
Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, energy and transport combined
70%Systemic change is required for Ireland to become the climate-neutral, climate-resilient society and economy that it aspires to be.
The WHO has described air pollution as the ‘single biggest environmental health risk’. Of growing concern are levels of particulate matter, due to domestic solid fuel burning, and levels of nitrogen dioxide in our urban areas, due to our dependence on the diesel and petrol fuelled vehicles.
In Ireland, the number of premature deaths attributable to air pollution is estimated to be at least
1,300 peopleIntegrating air pollution controls, noise mitigation measures and climate action (for example, in transport management) can bring multiple benefits.
Ireland’s water resources are an important natural asset. Clean, healthy water is essential for our economy, our aquatic wildlife and for our health and wellbeing.
54% of our surface waters are in good or better ecological status
54%Improve the water environment, tackle water pollution locally at a water catchment level and reduce human-induced pressures on the marine environment.
We are at a pivotal point in Ireland’s waste policy, legislation and planning.
Tonnes of waste generated in Ireland in 2020
16.2 millionChanging our behaviours on resource consumption, waste management and recycling are actions everyone can take to protect the environment.
Move to a less wasteful and circular economy and to the use of clean energy systems. Progress towards a more environmentally-sustainable and carbon-neutral food production system.
Million tonnes of materials used in Ireland each year
100The transition to a clean energy future for heating, electricity and transport is essential for the protection of human health, the climate and the environment.
