Annual Transition Statement 2020

Section 14(1) of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 provides that an Annual Transition Statement must be presented annually to both Houses of the Oireachtas by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications.

Each Annual Transition Statement includes an overview of climate change mitigation and adaptation policy measures adopted to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and to adapt to the effects of climate change in order to enable the achievement of the national transition objective. The Annual Transition Statement also contains a summary of current and projected greenhouse gas emissions published by the Environmental Protection Agency, together with a report on compliance with obligations of the State under EU law or an international agreement referred to in section 2 of the 2015 Act.

While an Annual Transition Statement is required to set out information on developments in respect of the year immediately preceding the year in which the statement is presented, the 2020 Annual Transition Statement also records some key policy developments in relation to climate mitigation and adaptation in 2020 and 2021.

The enactment of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 (the 2021 Act) has further strengthened the statutory framework for the governance of Ireland’s national climate objective. In place of Annual Transition Statements, the new framework ensures delivery of successive Climate Action Plans and Long-term Climate Strategies, supported by a system of carbon budgeting and sectoral targets with appropriate oversight by Government, the Oireachtas and the Climate Change Advisory Council. Therefore, this will be the fifth and final Annual Transition Statement.