The Republic’s greenhouse gas emissions have fallen for the fourth year running, but not enough to keep legally binding targets in sight.
Latest figures from the Environmental Protection Agency show emissions – predominantly from fossil fuels and agricultural methane – fell by 2.2 per cent in 2025.
The agency says that leaves the country needing to make far bigger annual cuts – of more than 10 per cent – every year from now to 2030 to comply with national climate law.
Based on the last four years’ performances, the agency says that it will be difficult to achieve
RM Block
Progress was made last year in several areas and although it was modest, agency director general Eimear Cotter said it showed that “clear prioritisation and sustained investment can deliver emissions reductions”.
Emissions from transport, which account for 22 per cent of the national total, have proven hard to reduce in a growing population and economy with heavy reliance on petrol and diesel vehicles, but they fell by 1.5 per cent last year.
The agency says this is due to an increase in the biofuels requirement, which stipulates that auto fuels contain a higher proportion of non-fossil fuels, and an increase in the number of electric vehicles on the road.
EV growth “curtailed emissions growth that might otherwise have resulted from a growing workforce and 3.4 per cent increase in the national vehicle fleet”, it says.
Emissions from agriculture – the largest single contributor to greenhouse gases in the State, accounting for almost 39 per cent of the total – fell by 0.2 per cent.
This was mainly due to a 3.3 per cent reduction in cattle numbers, the second year of reductions in herd numbers after 13 years of increases.
The reduction was mainly in beef cattle, but there was also a small decline in dairy cow numbers. It was notable that milk production increased despite this.
Some of the reduction achieved through reduced livestock numbers was wiped out by a sharp rise in fertiliser use, which emits nitrogen gas.
Emissions from residential, commercial and public buildings – mainly from oil and gas used for heating and cooling – fell by 4.7 per cent.
That is attributed to a milder winter in 2025, but also an increase in the use of electric heat pumps.
An extra 37,000 homes were fitted with heat pumps in 2025, bringing the total to just under 200,000.
Industrial and manufacturing emissions also fell by 4.7 per cent, largely because of a reduction in the production of clinker for cement and the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable alternatives.
Emissions from energy production, which is mainly electricity generation but also some oil refining, fell by 7.1 per cent.
Renewables – mainly wind and solar – provided 5.8 per cent more electricity in 2025, but they still only match the amount of electricity generated by burning gas.
There was little change in wind power but there was a rapid increase in solar power.
Although starting from a much smaller base, solar panels provided 50 per cent more electricity last year than in 2024.
Imports of electricity from Britain have also increased rapidly in the last few years from a negligible quantity in the early 2020s to 16.4 per cent last year.
That helps keep the State’s emission count down, as electricity generated elsewhere does not have to be included in the national inventory regardless of how it is produced.
Based on the 2025 figures, the Republic has remained just inside the carbon budget set for 2020-2025, but the next five-year budget is smaller and will require much more extensive annual emission cuts.
