Greenhouse gas emissions are estimated to have fallen by almost 6% last year due to the pandemic.
Figures from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Sustainable Energy Authority (SEAI) suggest COVID-19 has had a ‘significant impact’ on emissions in Ireland.
Emissions from the transport sector are estimated to have fallen by 17%, although residential emissions - particularly home heating - are estimated to have increased by 9% as a result of more people working from home.
There’s now a warning that a ‘green recovery’ from the pandemic is vital as the steps taken will shape Ireland for the next decade.
Programme Manager with the EPA, Mary Francis Rochford, told Newstalk Breakfast there are important lessons to be learned from the data.
She said: “I think the first thing to say is that any reduction in emissions is very welcome, but what this information shows us is where we are now and highlights the scale of the challenge we face.
“It also provides us with very useful insights into where we need to focus on.”
Ms Rochford said that while lower emissions in the energy sector (down 14%) were partially as a result of COVID-19 measures, it was mainly down to the shift away from fuels such as coal and peat and towards renewable energy.
She observed: “It does show there’s important, serious and ambitious policies and measures we need to implement - we know what they are, and we now need to get along and do that.
“We very clearly know it’s not about us just stopping - it’s about this transformative change in terms of how we do everything differently.
“It’s for us to see how we can work better, travel in a more environmentally friendly day, and to build better lifestyles for ourselves… we do have an opportunity now.”
She said there are already ambitious plans around the likes of electric vehicles, and it will also be vital to focus on retrofitting homes to make them more energy efficient.
She suggested there’s simply ‘no opportunity’ to push back the timelines to achieve the country’s climate targets.
