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IRELAND MAY HAVE to spend up to €300m over the next eight years to fulfill its obligations under an EU climate law because the country’s policies and plans are not strong enough to help it achieve the necessary reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
The government will have to buy millions of so-called “carbon credits” to offset each tonne of CO2 by which it exceeds its targets, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned.
Under a 2009 EU law, member states agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from sectors including agriculture, transport, buildings and waste by 10 per cent on 2005 levels over the period 2013-2020. It is up to national governments to implement policies and measures to limit emissions from these sectors.
Richer countries, measured in terms of GDP per capita, took on higher targets and Ireland is at the top of the table with an obligation to cut its emissions by 20 per cent over the period. Just two other countries, Denmark and Luxembourg, have a 20 per cent obligation.
The targets were proposed by the European Commission in January 2008 and agreed by EU ministers in December that year, a few months after Ireland entered recession.
Not on track
Six countries including Ireland are not on track to make the required emissions reductions. The six will miss their targets even if all their existing and planned carbon mitigation policies are fully implemented, the European Environment Agency warned in October 2012.
In a report published last month, the EPA confirmed that Ireland will miss its targets within five years. Buying carbon credits to cover the resulting shortfall will cost anywhere between €50m and €300m, depending on what further steps the country takes to cut its emissions in the relevant sectors. The cost of compliance may be even greater after 2020, the agency warned.
Environment minister Phil Hogan published a draft climate bill last week, setting out some ways that the country may go about cutting its emissions. But the absence of any emissions targets from the bill was criticised by environmental groups including Friends of the Earth and An Taisce.
EU countries have not yet agreed overall decarbonisation targets for beyond 2020 but the European Commission has proposed cutting emissions by 80 per cent on 1990 levels by 2050. The UK has already signed an 80 per cent target into law.
Green groups had hoped to see such a target in the Irish bill too, arguing that it would act as an incentive to the current and to future governments to take action on reducing emissions. In its report, the EPA also recommended that Ireland adopt long term targets, arguing that these would provide businesses with the certainty to make low-carbon investments.
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Wow… who’d have thought charging c.400% tax on a product would incentivise a black economy in that product?
It was always going to happen with the continued increases in tax. Tax needs to be reduced but that wont happen so this will just get worse. Average levy on cigarettes in EU is 3.50. We charged 8 per box of 20. That’s just mental.
@John Duggan: The tax is because of health issues. If you didn’t know smoking is bad and ends up costing the state who have to provide public health care ..
@Alan Kenny: all in taxes and levies are more than €11 on an average €14 box of cigarettes. It’s not just mental, it’s egregious.
@Gavin Lynam: Do you have some figures on what smokers cost the health system, versus what they generate in taxes?
@Gavin Lynam: Obesity causes issues too, so maybe a 400% tax on all take away foods and restaurants then ? Like the way the sugar tax fixed so much.
@Gavin Lynam: i am pretty sure that you believe in fairies and dragons as well.
@Da Dell: And a tax on frozen food/pizzas in supermarkets and any product that contains any trace of unhealthiness. Also put a health levy on driving cause people are too lazy to walk which is costing the taxpayer in health costs.
So much for personal responsibility and personal freedom. These taxes do very little to improve peoples’ health. Irish people constantly think in terms of how much money they could generate but aren’t thinking about the education aspect. Education is the key to everything but we aren’t too fond of that here, clinging on to our traditional leaving cert and not teaching many real world skills or education.
@JusticeForJoe: Money isn’t the issue
@Larsen Cib: Still haven’t grown out of your superhero faze I see ..
@JusticeForJoe: smokers cost the state around 300 million more than they contribute in taxes every year.
@Alan Kenny: an the same will happen with wine an beer ,.
@Fakë Ăvatăř: do you have a source for that?
@Ian Kerrigan.: I compiled the data as part of a project about two years ago, the figure ranges between 3 to 4 hundred million a year going from 2010 to 2018, long and short of it is smoking is a drain on economy.
@Fakë Ăvatăř: utter b0ll0x
@Fakë Ăvatăř: that’s interesting because it’s been reported that smokers give over 30 million beyond what they cost the exchequer. So unless you can provide evidence I’m not going to believe you over economists on the matt Cooper show.
@Fakë Ăvatăř: During that period smokers contributed on average 1,200M each year in combined excise duties and tax. In other words, they paid for all of their own health costs and gave a further €800M for the health of others.
(Figures supplies by the Revenue Commissioners).
Nobody should be suprised… Tax anything that much and its basically an open invite to criminals in the black market…There is other ways but the tories we have in charge aren’t capable of thinking outside the box
Legalise and regulate. If it was legal there’d be none of these criminal enterprises. Oh wait…
@Mattress Dick: Unfortunately the biggest gangsters in the country are the ones regulating this industry, the main crime here is the tax is circa 80% of the purchase price.
@Mattress Dick: Yes you right, better to leave as is, as its easy to get and cheap plus added bonus of having access to nearly all ‘drugs’ from same source. If the Gov got involved they would just make a balls of it.
@Mark Malone: pretty much this.
@Mattress Dick: there you are again. Great support for the cause of legalisation. Dick says legal is better.
Pretending that the tax is for the health system is a joke. Today’s children are much better educated about the dangers and yet during the pandemic there has been an increase of young people smoking
@Ian James Burgess: unfortunately naive , not far thinking people do believe in these fairy tales.
The profits from tobacco smuggling are on par with those from drugs, but the penalties for getting caught are a laugh. Basically a smack on the back of the hand.
Why don’t they follow these drug finds back to make mass arrests. Seizing stuff at the ports is lazy and unimaginative.
They haven’t gone away, you know.
have your say