The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has published its 13 report detailing Ireland’s progress towards meeting its targets under the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Commenting on the publication, Kevin McCormack, Senior Statistician, said: “This new report, Goal 13 Climate Action 2021, has data on eight indicators for Ireland, divided over two chapters: Climate and Strategy. Data are presented in categories such as gender, age group, vulnerable groups and geographical location, where possible. The SDGs and their associated indicators are, by design, wide-ranging in their coverage. As a result, the Irish data is provided by a number of sources including Government departments, official organisations and international organisations such as the UN. The publication for Goal 13 was developed in collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).”
In addition, he noted that 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. Emissions in 2021 were 1.1% above the 2019 pre-COVID-19 restriction levels data.
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.