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Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change

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YearTotal national emissions
1990-1994 56.3611421817748
1995-199962.8339175605872
2000-200468.6639864737797
2005-200967.1593583976222
2010-201458.220431443317
0
201559.4159252711467
201661.4914399480361
201761.0048760237888
201860.9345410214795

In 2018, Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions were 60.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. This was 9.9% higher than the 1990 figure of 55.5 million tonnes.

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4.1 EU: Greenhouse gas emissions 2018

In 2018, Ireland ranked seventh worst out of 28 EU Member States in terms of its total greenhouse gas emissions at 89.0 relative to the base year of 2005=100. The United Kingdom had the best performance with a ratio of 68.6 in 2018 relative to 100 in the base year of 2005.

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CountryTonnes of CO2 equivalent per capita
Malta4.59555477074885
Sweden5.11640334292401
Croatia5.79535758555672
Romania5.94528256665133
Latvia6.06265886881526
Hungary6.46524456885508
Portugal6.55102644274473
France6.64719604573539
United Kingdom6.97264804301491
Italy7.06846787329926
Spain7.16387238520819
Lithuania7.21521691223721
Slovakia7.96387917223945
Bulgaria8.20075335806891
EU288.24785521066725
Denmark8.34149889555611
Slovenia8.46790331320638
Greece8.58581541201536
Austria8.94898556119419
Cyprus10.1944029177215
Finland10.2321657570201
Germany 10.3677292603999
Belgium10.3921406412671
Poland10.8713108650052
Netherlands10.9537203822529
Czech Republic12.0771683087411
Ireland12.6148229791702
Estonia15.1418696977484
Luxembourg17.5200372089933

In 2018, Ireland had the third worst emissions of greenhouse gases per capita in the EU at 12.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per capita. Ireland’s emissions were 53% higher than the EU28 average of 8.2 tonnes. Estonia and Luxembourg had the highest level of CO2 emissions per capita in 2018 at 15.1 and 17.5 tonnes respectively. Malta had the lowest rate of emissions in 2018 at 4.6 tonnes per capita.

Note: A production error was discovered in Figure 4.2 The figures for greenhouse gas emissions per capita in the EU were incorrect due to the inclusion of an adjustment for international aviation. Figure 4.2 was updated with the corrected figure on 29/01/2021.

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4.2 Ireland: Greenhouse gas emissions by sector 1990-2018

YearAgricultureTransportEnergyIndustry, commercial and public servicesResidentialWaste and F gases
1990-199436.50024579895629.9165884398665921.571433613532416.469205792555112.40960870198443.13291765310533
1995-199934.566648222680312.776926415062923.446050646455315.767937019685410.30873385398883.1337038421273
2000-200429.650294990172816.830597019111423.899911700568616.21097375064069.803860535996493.60436200351014
2005-200928.515888440045920.106451834555721.955906834760115.451719873300310.8237371053033.14629591203507
2010-201431.934118363411419.259831902227621.040364210346713.461581642429211.26197010573033.04213377585481
000000
201532.249022137560619.90597111572920.109261817542413.92956833343210.16782862121083.63834797452523
201632.012860853982520.01587422379320.592820907877513.87240851922749.833045854563733.67298964055593
201733.199087860514619.713989359163219.504672550250314.44579431642539.410570412100873.72588550154563
201833.861614381864920.0620761285817.446273579161615.042097584060510.17022707963783.41771124669519

Agriculture was the sector with the largest greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland over the 1990-2018 period with 33.9% of the total in 2018.

The transport share of greenhouse gas emissions increased from 9.3% in 1990 to 20.1% in 2018. The energy sector’s share of greenhouse gas emissions in 2018 was the third largest sectoral contributor to emissions with 17.4% of the total.

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YearAverage annual temperature
19619.2
19628.5
19638.2
19649.3
19658.5
19669.1
19679
19689.1
19698.8
19709.1
19719.6
19728.7
19739.4
19748.9
19759.6
19769.3
19779.1
19789.2
19798.4
19809
19819.2
19829.3
19839.6
19849.3
19858.6
19868.2
19878.9
19889.4
19899.8
19909.8
19919.4
19929.4
19939.2
19949.5
199510.1
19969.2
199710.3
199810.1
199910
20009.7
20019.5
200210
200310.1
200410
200510.2
200610.3
200710.4
20089.7
20099.6
20108.6
201110
20129.7
20139.8
201410.2
20159.7
201610
201710.3
201810.1
201910.2

Average annual temperature in Ireland over the 1961-2019 period varied between 8.2° Celsius in 1963 and 1986 and 10.4° Celsius in 2007.The average annual temperature in 2019 was 10.2° Celsius.

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YearAverage annual rainfall
19411025
19421165.2
19431193.9
19441173.5
19451132.8
19461307.7
19471303.7
19481315.2
19491137.8
19501311.9
19511270
1952991.5
19531019.2
19541383.7
19551045.7
19561157.8
19571175.6
19581333.1
19591145.7
19601408
19611157.6
19621110.3
19631114.7
19641168.9
19651290.5
19661309.2
19671199
19681202
1969995.3
19701182.1
1971911.8
19721129
19731094.3
19741253.2
1975991
19761065.2
19771241.6
19781160.5
19791265.1
19801293.9
19811226.5
19821338.1
19831189.9
19841151.7
19851245.7
19861372.9
19871081.7
19881322.7
19891166.7
19901290.4
19911158.5
19921227.9
19931266.8
19941395.2
19951225.8
19961185.2
19971236.7
19981400.6
19991336.5
20001345.8
20011002.4
20021459.2
20031034.9
20041182.5
20051147
20061303.3
20071183.6
20081415.1
20091506
20101054.4
20111274.2
20121312.4
20131195.1
20141394.1
20151503.6
20161175.1
20171242.6
20181223.6
20191370

Average annual rainfall in Ireland over the 1941-2019 period varied between 912 millimetres in 1971 and 1,506 millimetres in 2009. The average rainfall figure in 2019 was 1,370 millimetres.

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