Ireland’s Climate Action Plan lays out a roadmap of actions which will ultimately lead us to meeting our national climate objective of pursuing and achieving, by no later than the end of the year 2050, the transition to a climate resilient, biodiversity rich, environmentally sustainable and climate neutral economy.

The Plan aligns with the legally binding economy-wide carbon budgets and sectoral emissions ceilings that were agreed by Government in July 2022. The latest plan sets out what needs to be done into 2025, so that we are prepared to take on the challenges of our second carbon budget period 2026-2030.

The Built Environment sector comprises the residential, public and commercial sectors, and accounted for 11.1% or 6.76 MtCO2 eq. of Ireland’s economy-wide operational Greenhouse Gas emissions in 2023 according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s July 2024 Provisional Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report. Operational emissions in the sector have decreased by 6.2% or 0.44 Mt of CO2 eq. since 2022 and have decreased by 21% since 2018.

Embodied Greenhouse Gas emissions (emissions embodied in construction materials, construction processes, etc.) are reported in the industrial sector. Industrial process emissions, which closely track cement production, fell by 5.8% in 2023 and overall, by 6% since 2018.

These emission reductions have largely been due to reduced production/output, and industrial processes continue to represent a key ‘hard to abate’ cohort of emissions in industry. Cement production is a key driver of embodied emissions in the built environment and is another key focus of sustainability in Public Works.

The Department of An Taoiseach prepare quarterly progress reports on Climate Action Plan targets - Climate Action Plan Progress Reports. They also publish a monthly newsletter - Climate Action Newsletter.