Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions reduced by 2.2% last year

Thursday 9 July 2026

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published its provisional greenhouse gas emissions for Ireland for 2025.

The figures show a reduction of 2.2% or 1.2 Mt CO2eq compared to 2024, with emission reductions across all the main sectors. However, greenhouse gas emissions now need to decrease by over 10% each year to 2030 for Ireland to meet our national climate target of a 51% reduction on 2018 levels.

Dr Eimear Cotter, EPA director general, said: “This is the fourth year in a row that Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions have reduced which is welcome in the context of a growing economy and population. However, with just four years to 2030, Ireland needs to accelerate delivery and achieve much deeper annual reductions to meet our climate targets.”

Clear prioritisation and sustained investment

She added: “The evidence shows that clear prioritisation and sustained investment can deliver emissions reductions. Since 2005, emissions covered by the Emissions Trading System, including large point sources such as power generation, have fallen by more than 52%.

"By contrast, greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, transport and buildings have collectively fallen by only 12%. This highlights the key challenge for Ireland to reduce emissions from dispersed emission sources. The priority now is to accelerate delivery in these sectors by removing barriers and making low-carbon choices practical, affordable and attractive.”

In terms of EU targets, the assessment shows that Ireland has not met its EU Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) commitments in 2025, even with the use of flexibilities. 2025 greenhouse gas emissions were 12% below 2005 levels, well short of Ireland’s EU Effort Sharing reduction commitment of 42% by 2030.

Regarding compliance with national climate commitments, the assessment shows that greenhouse gas emissions (including LULUCF) are 14.5% lower than in 2018, well off track for the national climate ambition of a 51% reduction by 2030.

Summary of trends in key sectors

Energy industries: Emissions from energy industries decreased for the fourth consecutive year by 7.1% in 2025, to an all-time low of 6.6Mt CO2eq. This was due to the large share of energy generation coming from renewables (40.6%) in combination with an increase in the share of imported electricity (16.4% of electricity supply in 2025 compared to 14.1% in 2024);
Transport: Emissions from transport decreased for the second year in a row by 1.5% or 0.17Mt CO2eq following a 1.2% decrease in 2024. A 14.9% increase in the use of biofuels along with a 35.4% increase in electricity consumption for road transport contributed to reduced emissions in 2025;
Agriculture: Agriculture emissions decreased slightly by 0.2% or 0.04Mt CO2eq in 2025. This was primarily due to a 3.3% reduction in cattle numbers offset by a 12.7% increase in nitrogen fertiliser use and a 4.8% increase in milk production;
Buildings (residential, commercial and public): Emissions from buildings decreased by 4.7% due to a warmer winter and decreased use of fossil fuels. Emissions within the Residential sector have fallen to their lowest level in more than three decades. Currently standing at 2.7t CO2eq per household, this figure represents a substantial decline from the 1990 baseline of 7.5 t CO2eq;
Industry: Manufacturing combustion and industrial processes emissions decreased by 3.3% to 6.0Mt CO2eq in 2025 due to marked reductions in coal (down 25.5%), oil (down 6.2%) and gas (down 2.7%) usage. Total emissions from the cement sector decreased by 3.6% or 0.1Mt CO2eq in line with a reduction in clinker production.

Provisionally, Ireland is under its first Carbon Budget by 1.1Mt CO2eq. The assessment also reports on sectoral ceiling performance for 2021-2025, with several sectors such as energy industries and buildings meeting or coming within their ceiling.

Two sectors, transport and industry, exceeded their ceilings by 8.1% and 9.1% respectively. A direct comparison of the agriculture sector against its absolute sectoral emission ceiling is no longer possible given recent scientific updates to baseline historical agriculture emissions.

Dr Conor Quinlan, EPA programme manager, said: “Sectoral ceilings are intended to make climate progress measurable and accountable. The fact that some sectors, such as energy Industries and Buildings, are provisionally on track is encouraging, but the overshoots in transport and industry show that the overall carbon budget remains at risk unless delivery strengthens across all sectors.”

The Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory 1990 to 2025 is available on the EPA website and the EPA Greenhouse Gas web resource is also available online.