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Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change

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YearTotal national emissions
1990-1994 55.5524234372919
1995-199962.6304267889465
2000-200468.9972562974861
2005-200967.7928648382808
2010-201459.032257013395
0
201560.4319530413557
201662.4751373324772
201762.1148608820185
201862.5260139696783
201959.7776396172197

In 2019, Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions were 59.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. This was 10.0% higher than the 1990 figure of 54.4 million tonnes.

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4.1 EU: Greenhouse gas emissions 2019

In 2019, Ireland ranked seventh worst out of 28 EU Member States in terms of its total greenhouse gas emissions at 85.1 relative to the base year of 2005=100. Greece had the best performance with a ratio of 62.8 in 2019 relative to 100 in the base year of 2005 and Latvia the worst at 101.7.

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CountryTonnes of CO2 equivalent per capita
Malta4.31438989648099
Sweden4.95383011798846
Croatia5.8037434051779
Latvia5.82332630725323
Romania5.87816844493561
Portugal6.18556126748849
France6.48335439587541
Hungary6.59423193258597
Spain6.67295210971028
United Kingdom6.72054569964624
Italy7.00296393309651
Lithuania7.28949582643943
Slovakia7.33270115381929
Denmark7.60880961168625
EU287.90164337676202
Greece7.98678217449626
Bulgaria8.02138720062227
Slovenia8.17160150068115
Austria8.99132537230065
Finland9.6117796162928
Germany 9.74569350410207
Cyprus10.0341061645078
Belgium10.153337371986
Poland10.2921053931236
Netherlands10.4203824138475
Estonia11.0778070356576
Czechia11.5535103032552
Ireland12.1146171524459
Luxembourg17.3270688273083

In 2019, Ireland had the second worst emissions of greenhouse gases per capita in the EU at 12.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per capita. Ireland’s emissions were 53% higher than the EU28 average of 7.9 tonnes. Luxembourg had the highest level of CO2 emissions per capita in 2019 at 17.3 tonnes while Malta had the lowest rate of emissions in 2019 at 4.3 tonnes.

Note: An error was discovered in Figure 4.2 in the 2016, 2018 and 2019 publications. The figures for greenhouse gas emissions per capita in the EU were incorrect due to the inclusion of an adjustment for international aviation by Irish airlines originating outside Ireland. This year the figures are calculated according to the territorial rather than the residence principle and therefore exclude this aviation adjustment.

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4.2 Ireland: Greenhouse gas emissions by sector 1990-2019

YearAgricultureTransportEnergyIndustry, commercial and public servicesResidentialWaste and F gases
1990-199435.57256981560710.064721239109521.885465328968816.50890140829412.78982973853913.17851246948154
1995-199934.350422243522112.822162776494823.522228557746315.218692757392610.94291978634463.14357387849959
2000-200429.985919795309216.75612655435123.784138017719315.100066155596210.79013664140863.58361283561571
2005-200929.17479172524719.921864070365121.750734014973913.839792944073812.19329567428283.11952157105743
2010-201432.688215157300818.998368008887620.751096333696412.100657229440912.39226741297333.06939585770093
000000
201533.080086263790119.581833595053319.771179678791613.220417405031510.72363309487493.62284996245861
201632.813545968800519.71418139064420.26854618582613.157922247921510.3877215700193.65808263678905
201734.128611744527819.378598132711919.155897698349513.469175879834310.35002657222963.51768997234682
201835.235733416342619.571045640446117.004883228768613.971295997161511.26393807302442.95310364425686
201935.378617376206820.408639773671215.800640034599814.446178069687510.91909972835943.04682501747527

Agriculture was the sector with the largest greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland over the 1990-2019 period with 35.4% of the total in 2019.

The transport share of greenhouse gas emissions increased from 9.5% in 1990 to 20.4% in 2019. The energy sector’s share of greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 was the third largest sectoral contributor to emissions with 15.8% of the total.

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YearAverage annual temperature
19619.22
19628.5
19638.23
19649.27
19658.55
19669.13
19678.98
19689.09
19698.8
19709.13
19719.58
19728.71
19739.38
19748.95
19759.57
19769.33
19779.07
19789.19
19798.35
19809
19819.16
19829.34
19839.62
19849.26
19858.61
19868.2
19878.94
19889.36
19899.77
19909.81
19919.43
19929.37
19939.19
19949.45
199510.12
19969.16
199710.27
199810.07
199910.02
20009.67
20019.55
20029.96
200310.07
200410.01
200510.2
200610.25
200710.41
20089.65
20099.65
20108.63
20119.96
20129.74
20139.75
201410.22
20159.66
20169.98
201710.26
201810.09
201910.2
202010.14

Average annual temperature in Ireland over the 1961-2020 period varied between 8.20° Celsius in 1986 and 10.41° Celsius in 2007. The average annual temperature in 2020 was 10.14° Celsius.

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YearAverage annual rainfall
19411025
19421165.23
19431193.92
19441173.51
19451132.79
19461307.73
19471304.03
19481315.21
19491137.84
19501311.88
19511269.99
1952991.43
19531019.17
19541383.67
19551045.76
19561157.8
19571175.59
19581333.09
19591145.71
19601408.03
19611157.58
19621110.29
19631114.71
19641168.98
19651290.58
19661309.29
19671199
19681202.08
1969995.36
19701182.1
1971911.83
19721129.09
19731094.38
19741253.23
1975991.04
19761065.21
19771241.61
19781160.48
19791265.15
19801293.89
19811226.54
19821338.19
19831189.98
19841151.72
19851245.67
19861372.99
19871081.66
19881322.71
19891166.73
19901290.37
19911158.48
19921227.91
19931266.83
19941395.23
19951225.8
19961185.27
19971236.77
19981400.6
19991336.51
20001345.82
20011002.43
20021459.21
20031034.94
20041182.52
20051146.99
20061303.34
20071183.58
20081415.08
20091506.1
20101054.37
20111274.17
20121312.43
20131195.12
20141394.11
20151503.64
20161175.12
20171242.58
20181223.32
20191369.65
20201486.3

Average annual rainfall in Ireland over the 1941-2020 period varied between 911.8 millimetres in 1971 and 1,506.1 millimetres in 2009. The average rainfall figure in 2020 was 1,486.3 millimetres.

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