General Scheme Climate Action Amendment Bill

​​On 17 June 2019, the Government published the Climate Action Plan 2019, which commits to bring forward a new Climate Action (Amendment) Bill for publication in Q1 2020. The new Bill will amend the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 and provide for a strengthened statutory framework for continual long-term planning for the realisation of Ireland's 2050 vision.

On 19 December 2019 Government approved the publication of the General Scheme for the Climate Action (Amendment) Bill 2019. The General Scheme published here has been prepared for the purposes of giving statutory effect to the core objectives stated within the Climate Action Plan. The Bill aims to enshrine in law the approach outlined in the Climate Action Plan, including:

• Establishing a 2050 emissions reduction target in law
• Making the adoption of carbon budgets a legal requirement
• Strengthening the role of the Climate Action Council in recommending the appropriate climate budget and policies
• Requiring the Government to set a decarbonisation target range for each sector. The Minister with primary responsibility for each sector will be accountable for delivering the relevant actions to meet the sectoral target and for reporting annually on the delivery of their actions and the achievement of sectoral emission targets
• Giving the Oireachtas a central role in the setting of the carbon budget and overseeing progress to delivery
• Banning the sale of fossil fuel cars by 2030
• Establishing that the Climate Action Plan shall be updated annually, with actions in every sector