Green Budgeting & Climate Fiscal Analysis

Traditional measures of economic performance fail to capture fully the specific impacts of climate and environmental policies on the public finances, therefore green budgeting is undertaken by the Department of Finance, as part of the annual budgetary process.

Green budgeting is the process of documenting the impact of budgetary measures and wider fiscal policy on the transition to a more sustainable and climate friendly economy. The objective is to make Government action on climate change more transparent. Raising awareness and understanding of the climate impact of wider budgetary policy can help promote policy changes that will result in improved environmental outcomes.

The Department of Finance Green Budgeting focus is on analysis of the tax system, and the work complements the green budgeting expenditure analysis undertaken by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform (DPENDR). See: Item was unpublished or removed.

At a European level, Ireland is an active participant in European Commission's Green budgeting Expert Group, and the OECD Paris Collaborative on Green Budgeting, and at a wider international level the Minister and Department of Finance official are active participants in the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action. These engagements at a European and wider international level include training and exchanging initiatives relating to green budgeting, with the aim to share expertise and learning from good practice elsewhere.

2025

• Department of Finance (2025) paper: Green Budgeting in Ireland from a Tax Perspective – update to the methodology

2024

• Department of Finance (2024) paper:Carbon Tax Exchequer Revenue Projections 2024-2030.
• Budget 2025: Beyond GDP - Quality of Life Assessment, Green Budgeting (Chapter 6):Budget 2025: Beyond GDP - Quality of Life Assessment
• Budget 2025 - Beyond GDP - Quality of Life Assessment, Green Budgeting (chapter 6) Chart Pack:Budget 2025: Beyond GDP - Chartpack

2023

• Department of Finance (2023) paper: ‘Potential-fiscal-impacts-of-the-transition-to-a-lower-carbon-economy-in-ireland/’
• Budget 2024 - Beyond GDP - Quality of Life Assessment, Green Budgeting (chapter 6): gov.ie - Budget 2024: Beyond GDP - Quality of Life Assessment (www.gov.ie)

2022

• Budget 2023 - Beyond GDP - Quality of Life Assessment, Green Budgeting (chapter 6): Budget 2023: Beyond GDP - Quality of Life Assessment

2021

• The Department of Finance’s green budgeting methodology and approach as set out in the (2021) publication: A Review of Green Budgeting from a Tax Perspective

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