Green credentials in disarray as Government fails to understand how EU-wide data measures emissions
The office of Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan partly backtracked on the contentious issue of emissions. File photograph: Nick Bradshaw/The Irish TimesWhen is an emission not an emission? When it’s distorted. Eurostat this week reported that Irish greenhouse gas emissions rose 12.3 per cent in the final three months of last year over the same period in 2021, bucking an EU trend that meant they fell 4 per cent to 938 million tonnes throughout the bloc.
But then the office of Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan partly backtracked. A spokeswoman subsequently explained that Eurostat was attempting to estimate changes in greenhouse emissions based on economic activity, including gross domestic product growth, which she added could be distorted by the high multinational presence in the Republic.
In response, Eurostat, the EU’s official statistics body, said Irish airlines were responsible for three-quarters of the increase, not multinationals, which it never mentioned, nor GDP, which is just one factor it takes into account. The organisation counts these carriers’ emissions as “Irish” whether they originate in the State’s territory or not, so they could come from aircraft flying between Italy and Germany.
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