From:Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment

The Environmental Protection Agency’s provisional greenhouse gas emissions inventory for 2025 shows that Ireland continues its progress towards its ambitious emissions reduction targets. The first Carbon Budget has been achieved on the back of the fourth consecutive year in which emissions have fallen.

Ireland now has the lowest level of GHG emissions in 36 years, which is notable given a concurrent increase of approximately 1.5 million people, more than one million new homes and over one million extra vehicles on our roads.

Economic growth has been definitively decoupled from greenhouse gas emissions, as Ireland’s economy continued to grow strongly in 2025 while emissions were reduced. Emissions have also continued to fall in the context of Ireland’s fast-growing population, with emissions per household at record lows in 2025.

Emissions fell last year in all the main sectors of the economy, including a 7.1% reduction in energy industries – to an all-time low – as our investment in renewable electricity continues to pay off. Electricity generation from renewables has increased fivefold since 2005. Regularly throughout the first half of 2026 almost half of Ireland’s electricity demand came from renewable sources. Ireland now generates a record amount of electricity while emissions from the sector continue to fall. The transport sector has also seen a further reduction in emissions in 2025, as higher use of biofuels and accelerating uptake of electric vehicles are making an impact.

Commenting on the report, Minister O’Brien said:

"I welcome the publication of the EPA’s greenhouse gas inventory report for 2025. As we continue our efforts to transform Ireland’s economy to a climate-neutral one, it is very encouraging to see that emissions have continued to fall for the fourth year in a row.

"I am pleased to see that the provisional inventory shows that we have successfully achieved the first Carbon Budget – a very significant achievement as our economy and population continue to grow.

"Now is the time to continue our efforts right across Government, and preparations are currently underway for the next update to the Climate Action Plan which will have a strong focus on delivering the highest-impact measures to reduce our emissions while improving the quality of life of people in Ireland."

The EPA report 'Ireland's Provisional Greenhouse Gas Emissions 1990-2025' can be viewed here:https://www.epa.ie/publications/monitoring--assessment/climate-change/air-emissions/irelands-provisional-greenhouse-gas-emissions-1990-2025.php