Climate Change Bill – More Aspiration Than Perspiration

Alan Kelly, Ireland's Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, published the "Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015" (the "Carbon Bill") on Monday 19 January 2015.  Any piece of draft legislation that refers in its title to "climate" and "carbon" should trigger at least some level of alert for energy market participants, since the wider issue of greenhouse gas emissions underpins much of Ireland's current energy policy. 

Ireland's current carbon policy

As it stands Ireland is, as a result of the EU's 2009 "Effort Sharing Decision", obliged over the period of 2013-2020 to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20% relative to its 2005 emissions.  Commission Decision 2013/162/EU further sets out the specific yearly targets for each EU Member State for the years 2013 to 2020.  Ireland's 2013 emission target, by virtue of the Decision, was 45.16 million tonnes of "carbon dioxide equivalent" (Mt CO2eq), while the Environmental