Ireland Failing Emissions Test

According to a report from Ireland's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the country is falling short in its reduction of greenhouse gas emissions

The report shows that Ireland produced 69.77 million tonnes of CO2 in 2006 - an 0.8% drop on the previous year.

Although the decline was "encouraging", the EPA's Director General noted that serious efforts were still needed to meet Ireland's Kyoto commitments.

"The remaining distance to our Kyoto target is substantial and shows that we continue to face a very major challenge," she said.

"Reducing emissions in a growing economy will require a major effort on all our parts. Transport figures remain particularly worrying. Major efforts will be required to halt and reverse this trend."

According to the report, transportation is still the fastest-growing "problem area" with a 5% increase in the amount of CO2 between 2005 and 2006, leaving road use to blame for almost a fifth of the Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions.

The EPA said that this increase reflected "the increasing number of vehicles on the road, the desire for bigger cars like SUVs and more reliance on private cars and road freight transport."

Emissions from power stations dropped by 4.6%, mainly due to the fact that the Moneypoint power plant was closed for several weeks.

Under the Kyoto Protocol , Ireland has agreed to limit the increase in greenhouse gas emissions to 13%, or 62.84 million tonnes. The EPA survey shows that emissions levels in 2006 were 69.77 million tonnes, 25.5% above the target.

The EPA also noted that looking beyond the Kyoto Protocol, environmentalists are calling for emissions reductions of 20-30% of 1990 levels in order to "avoid irreversible and damaging climate change."