Two plans to rescue Ireland’s climate ambitions set for publication

The Government will publish two plans next week aimed at getting the State’s climate action ambitions back on track. However, the much-delayed annual update to the actual Climate Action Plan will now not be published until December. The plans to be published while Minister for Climate Darragh O’Brien attends the Cop31 global climate summit are a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels and a national electrification strategy. [ Greenhushing banks quieter on climate, but letting money talkOpens in new window ]The Transition Away From Fossil Fuels (Taff) movement emerged from Cop30 in Brazil last year amid frustration with the slow progress made under the Cop process in getting countries to give up using coal, oil and gas. READ MOREThe Republic was among the early supporters of having a parallel process where countries that wanted to go further and faster could map out ways to go fossil-free. The first Taff international conference was held in Santa Marta, Colombia, last spring, where 57 attending countries agreed to develop national roadmaps. The State will co-host the second Taff conference with Tuvalu next summer. Assistant secretary at the Department of Climate Philip Nugent said on Friday progress was being made on Taff. “Several European countries have published national roadmaps on Taff and each time another country does so it is a step forward,” he said. “Ireland will publish its roadmap next week and we look forward to the Irish-Tuvaluan co-hosting in July 2027 of the follow-up to the Santa Marta conference.” It is understood the Republic’s Taff roadmap will be published on Monday, with a second strategy, the national electrification plan, to follow later in the week. Discussions are under way at Cop31 on a possible pledge to increase electrification worldwide to meet 35 per cent of global energy demand by 2035. The EU has not yet backed the pledge, but even without it, the bloc intends to increase electrification as part of its overall climate action targets. [ Ireland signs pact to grow carbon credits market for investors at Cop31Opens in new window ]Those targets were reinforced by the EU at Cop31 on Friday, with European Commission senior climate official Diana Acconcia saying: “Europe is staying the course. Europe will be climate neutral by 2050. We are on track to cut emissions by 55 per cent by 2030 and our 2040 target is to cut emissions by 90 per cent.” That puts pressure on the Republic, one of a minority of EU member states that is far off meeting its own national emission reduction targets. Negotiations at the climate summit will take a break on Sunday before entering the final week, with Nugent saying talks on key issues remained at “an early stage”. O’Brien is due to travel to Antalya this weekend to take up his role co-leading negotiations on behalf of the European Union along with EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra and his team.