The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 commits Ireland to a legally binding target of climate neutrality or a climate-neutral economy by no later than 2050 and a reduction in emissions of 51% by 2030. The construction and built environment sector accounts for approximately 37% of Ireland’s carbon emissions. This equals the level of emissions from agriculture. Some 14% of this is attributed to embodied carbon emissions, namely, the emissions from mining, quarrying, transporting and manufacturing of building materials, as well as from repairing, renovating and disposing of those building materials at their end of life. In order to fulfil our obligations under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021, to reduce carbon emissions and to reduce the climate catastrophe that we have been warned about, the State needs to introduce carbon limits for our built environment. We are lagging behind other EU countries. They are far ahead of us in measuring embodied carbon and in introducing carbon limits-----

The Deputy’s time is up.

The wider Government agenda includes the setting of carbon emissions targets and sectoral carbon budgets. All sectors of the economy, including that relating to the built environment, will have to make a contribution in respect of the State’s overall obligation, under law, to reach those targets. Carbon that is embedded in the built environment will also have to be accounted for. That whole area has to respond, just like every other sector of the economy. It will prove challenging.