IRELAND’S ENERGY AND CLIMATE PLAN

Ireland is required to meet a series of decarbonisation and renewable energy targets by 2020, yet it has been well-documented that the country is unlikely to meet these.

To get back on track and meet the 2030 targets an ambitious, but realistic, climate and energy roadmap is needed now.

Under European law, Ireland must produce a draft Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) for the period 2021-2030 by the end of 2018. This plan must set out detailed policy measures to demonstrate that Ireland is doing its part to meet EU energy and climate targets.

This IIEA publication argues that, while this task appears daunting at first glance, it is also an opportunity to revisit Ireland’s energy and climate policy. The author argues that drafting this plan would be more manageable when broken down into three sub-tasks:

Consolidation of existing policy
Assessing the coherence and ambition of policies
Consultation and engagement

This approach could be beneficial as it highlights areas that may be particularly challenging, but also processes that could make these challenges easier to tackle. The public, as well as private sector stakeholders and experts, would also benefit from this framework as it shows the areas where the most impact can be had and where advocacy for ambitious policies can be most successful.

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