Press Statement

Preasráiteas

13 April 2021

Go to release: Ireland's UN SDGs 2019 - Report on Indicators for Goal 7 Affordable and Clean Energy

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (13 April 2021) published ‘Ireland's UN SDGs 2019 - Report on Indicators for Goal 7 Affordable and Clean Energy’. This report is the seventh in a series of CSO publications which will monitor how Ireland is progressing towards meeting its targets under the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Reports currently published in the UN SDG series are ‘Goal 1 No Poverty’; ‘Goal 2 Zero Hunger’; ‘Goal 3 Good Health and Well-Being’; ‘Goal 4 Quality Education’; ‘Goal 5 Gender Equality’ and ‘Goal 6 Clean Water and Sanitation’.

Commenting on the publication, Kevin McCormack, Senior Statistician, said:

 “Goal 7 Affordable and Clean Energy reports data for Ireland in six Indicators divided into two main chapters: Affordable and Clean Energy, and Infrastructure. Data is disaggregated in categories such as gender, age group, vulnerable groups and geographical location, where possible. The SDGs and their associated indicators are, by design, wide-ranging in their coverage. As a result, the Irish data is provided by a number of sources including Government Departments, official organisations, and international organisations such as the UN. This publication was developed in collaboration with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI)."

The 17 UN SDGs are a set of global development targets adopted by the United Nations (UN) member countries in September 2015 to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. The UN SDGs are driving the global development agenda towards 2030 (Agenda 2030). They address global challenges including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. The CSO has a central role in the identification, management, and presentation of the data needed to meet the requirements of the UN SDG Indicators.

Commenting further on the publication, Kevin McCormack, Senior Statistician, said:

“About two million homes are now connected to the electricity supply network but a portion of these are vacant at any one time.  The Census of Population counted approximately 1.7 million households in 2016.

About four in ten (40.9%) private households used oil for central heating in 2016. This proportion rose to about five in ten (50.3%) for households with a reference person aged 75 years and over. Natural gas was the second most popular fuel used for heating, at 34% of households. There was no central heating in 1.4% of households (23,000 homes). Households where the reference person had very bad health were more likely to use coal or peat or to have no central heating.

According to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), renewables made up 12% of gross final energy consumption in 2019, relative to a 2020 target of 16%. The SEAI also said that for 2020 renewable energy targets, Ireland will be close to hitting the renewable electricity and transport sub-targets.

Renewable energy has been most successful in the production of electricity, particularly from wind. The share of electricity from renewable energy more than doubled between 2010 and 2019 – from 15.6% to 36.5% – an increase of 21 percentage points over nine years.

The value of Irish aid for developing countries towards clean energy research and development was €5.12 million in 2019, out of total Official Development Assistance (ODA) of €869.5 million.”

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