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Publication of Briefing Document on Developing Ireland’s First National Mitigation Plan

The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Denis Naughten T.D., has today published a briefing document on Ireland’s first National Mitigation Plan, a final version of which must be submitted to Government before 10th June this year. A formal statutory public consultation on a draft Plan is due by mid-March.

Ireland’s first NMP will represent a whole-of-Government approach, involving significant cross-Departmental engagement with the ultimate goal of developing a coherent, holistic plan that sets out exactly what Ireland is doing and is planning to do, to further Ireland’s transition to a low carbon, climate resilient and environmentally sustainable economy. A key part of developing the NMP has been the preparation of appropriate technical, environmental and economic analysis to inform the decision-making process as to what could be included in the plan. These analyses are still on-going as part of the overall development process for the NMP.

Although not a formal consultation inviting views, the publication of the briefing document does provide all interested parties an opportunity to start developing their views ahead of the statutory consultation scheduled for mid-March. Any views submitted at this stage can also be considered in the on-going development of the NMP.

In publishing the briefing document the Minister stated; “Development of Ireland’s first statutory National Mitigation Plan (NMP) represents a hugely important first step for how we are going to transition effectively to a low carbon and climate resilient future”. The briefing document being published today will, I hope, prepare the ground for the more formal statutory consultation to follow next month and highlights several key questions for all of us to consider in terms of how best we should position Ireland in taking this first step in achieving our national transition objectives by 2050. I also see this publication as being a key element of the National Dialogue on Climate Change which I intend to initiate in the coming months. Engagement with wider society and building consensus for how we achieve effective transition is a key priority for this government”.

Note for Editors:

The briefing document contains five key chapters representing the key constituents of the draft National Mitigation Plan.

Chapter 1 of the document sets out the relevant context for the plan and outlines the key policy considerations which are informing the development of a low carbon pathway to 2020 and beyond.

Chapters 2 to 5 deal with the four draft sectoral mitigation inputs to the plan, namely Electricity Generation, the Built Environment, Transport and Agriculture.

The statutory consultation, required under Section 4(8) of the Act, is planned for mid-March 2017 when a draft National Mitigation Plan complete with draft Environmental and Appropriate Assessment Reports will be published. This will form part of the wider National Dialogue on Climate Change which will commence shortly.

A final National Mitigation Plan will be submitted to Government not later than 10th June 2017.