Greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland experienced a significant increase of 9.1% during the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2022, marking the highest rise among EU countries.
Meanwhile, Ireland’s economic growth has been surpassing that of its EU counterparts.
Although gross domestic product (GDP) experienced a decline of 2.8% in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter, it grew by 2% compared to the first quarter of last year, according to Eurostat. Coincidentally, this is the same time period in which emissions saw a 9.1% growth.
In total, Irish GDP grew by an impressive 12% in 2022.
Additionally, Eurostat data shows that Ireland’s second-quarter GDP growth of 3.3% outperformed all other European partners.
During this period, the average quarterly EU growth was zero, while the eurozone saw a growth of 0.3%.
Among EU countries, Ireland was one of six to experience a spike in greenhouse gas emissions during the first quarter, which include carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide.
Latvia saw a 7.5% increase in emissions compared to the first quarter of 2022, while Slovakia, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland saw increases of 1.9%, 1.7%, 1.6%, and 0.3%, respectively.
It’s worth noting that this group of EU members also experienced an increase in GDP, as highlighted by Eurostat.
Overall, EU emissions fell by 3% in the first quarter due to a decline in 21 countries, while GDP grew by 1.2%.
Several countries, including Portugal, Croatia, Belgium, Malta, France, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Romania, Italy, Cyprus, Greece, Slovenia, and Bulgaria, managed to decrease their emissions while experiencing GDP growth.
Statistics from the Central Statistics Office reveal that Ireland was the second most-polluting EU state in 2020, just after Luxembourg.
In 2020, Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions reached 11.6 tonnes per capita, compared to the EU average of 7.4 tonnes.
During this period, Irish greenhouse gas emissions were 6.1% higher than their 1990 levels, while the EU achieved a 31.9% reduction.
The EU’s Green Deal targets a 55% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990 levels.
Additionally, Eurostat data indicates that Denmark and Ireland had the highest industrial production growth in the EU in June this year.
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