Environment at a Glance: Ireland
Table of contents
The OECD Environment at a Glance Country Notes are designed to support transparent, evidence-based information. They provide concise and descriptive overview of progress across major environmental issues, including climate, air quality, freshwater resources, waste and the circular economy, and biodiversity conservation. They feature selected environmental indicators, building on harmonised datasets available on OECD Data Explorer. Differences with national data sources can occur due to delays in data treatment and publication, or due to different national definitions and measurement methods. See the Reader’s guide to the Environment at a Glance Country Notes for more information.
Ireland is a small, open economy with a large industrial sector. Industry (including construction) accounts for about 40% of gross domestic product (GDP), well above the OECD average. The agri-food sector also plays an important role in terms of employment and exports. High living standards are ensured by a dynamic economy, a sizeable manufacturing sector with high value-added activities and a strong presence of multinational enterprises. Since 2014, GDP figures have been largely affected by the intangible assets held by multinational enterprises. Ireland was one of the only two OECD countries (with the United Kingdom) to record positive GDP growth in 2020, despite the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
While population density is relatively low in international comparison, that of the small region of Dublin is 21 times the national average. More than a quarter of the population lives in predominantly remote rural areas (i.e. in areas where at least half of residents need more than an hour to reach a large urban centre by motor vehicle). Ireland is a unitary state where local governments play a strong role.
Ireland is a lowland country with abundant water resources. It hosts a rich biodiversity, including a large part of European peatlands, which covers 16% of the country’s area. Three-quarters of the country are farmland, mostly grassland, with a competitive agriculture sector.
The per person production-based (i.e. produced within the territory) and demand-based (or footprint, i.e. including emissions incorporated in imported goods) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remain above the OECD averages and, despite large fluctuations, have remained at the 1995 levels. Demand-based emissions are close to production-based ones.
Total GHG emissions, excluding land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF), have decreased by 21.9% since 2000. The increase in 2005 was largely due to increased emissions from road transport and electricity generation from two new peat-fired stations. The decline between 2005 and 2008 is largely attributable to decreases in the agriculture and waste sectors and in 2008 to reduced emissions from mineral products in industrial processes. The increase after 2015 was due to higher emissions from almost all sectors.
Ireland has an unusual GHG emission profile within the OECD: agriculture accounts for more than a third of emissions, followed by transport and energy industries. Methane emissions from livestock make the bulk of agricultural emissions, reflecting the role of dairy and meat production in Ireland’s agriculture. Decreases in agricultural emissions in the 2000s were supported by reduced fertiliser use and livestock, while increases in the 2010s reflect herd expansion. Reduced application of nitrogen fertilisers and lime on soils has driven the fall in emissions since 2021. Strong growth in passenger cars and goods vehicles led to sustained increases of transport emission until 2007. The 2008 financial crisis temporarily reduced transport demand, and efficiency improvements alongside greater biofuel use helped moderate subsequent growth. Transport emissions fell during COVID-19 restrictions in 2020, but rebounded once mobility resumed.
Emissions from public electricity and heat production have decreased since 2001, driven by the transition away from coal and peat toward natural gas and renewable electricity. Since 2017, periods of weaker wind or hydro output have occasionally pushed emissions upward. Improvements in energy efficiency and the expansion of renewables have supported more recent declines. The LULUCF sector is a net emitter. Emissions stem mainly from drained organic soils and land converted from wetlands to grasslands, with removals from forest land being insufficient to offset these losses (EPA, 2026).
Ireland depends heavily on fossil fuels, 81.9% of total energy supply in 2025, including solid fuels (in particular peat), for both electricity generation and residential heating. Ireland committed to phase out coal and peat electricity generation by 2025 and 2028, respectively. About a third of active peat bogs have already been closed to extraction. Ireland relies on the United Kingdom for supply of most of its oil product imports and for a significant volume of crude oil. All of Ireland’s natural gas imports flow through the existing gas interconnectors with Scotland, even if they are not sourced from the United Kingdom (OECD, Environmental Performance Reviews: Ireland, 2021).
The share of renewable sources in the energy mix, 16.8% of total energy supply and 48.8% of electricity in 2025, has more than tripled since 2010, with wind energy representing about half of it.
Emissions of most major air pollutants have declined since 2010, partly due to the 2008-12 economic recession. Other factors that played a role include the reduced use of coal and peat in power generation and residential heating, the upgrade of power plants and the renewal of the car fleet. The 2016 retrofit of the coal-fired Moneypoint power plant helped reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulphur dioxides (SO2). Non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) have only marginally decreased in the past decades. Ireland is compliant with the emissions ceilings under the European Union (EU) NEC (National Emission reduction Commitments) Directive for NOx, NMVOCs and SO2, but not for ammonia (NH3) (OECD, Environmental Performance Reviews: Ireland, 2021). Except NOx and NMVOX emissions per person, all intensities are below the OECD average. SOx and carbon monoxide (CO) intensities are among the lowest in OECD countries.
Emission reductions went on par with air quality improvements. However, average population exposure to fine particles (PM2.5) remains above the 2021 guideline value of 5 µ/m3 recommended by the World Health Organisation.
Ireland has abundant water resources. However, water losses are high and have resulted in high and increasing water abstractions for public water supply1 (OECD, Environmental Performance Reviews: Ireland, 2021).
As a result of dispersed population settlements, around a third of the population is connected to individual wastewater treatment. All individual domestic wastewater treatment systems are registered with a local authority and are subject to inspection (OECD, Environmental Performance Reviews: Ireland, 2021).
Municipal waste generation declined during the economic recession in 2008-12, as a result of lower household disposable income and consumption. Municipal waste generation per person remains above the OECD average.
Ireland introduced a landfill tax in 2002. The progressive increase of this tax rate, together with limits on disposal of biodegradable waste, has helped divert waste from landfills. Landfilling has been replaced mostly by waste incineration with energy recovery (OECD, Environmental Performance Reviews: Ireland, 2021).
Domestic material consumption (DMC) has decreased markedly between 2007 and 2011 but has increased again until 2019. DMC consists mainly of non-metallic materials and biomass, food and feed, reflecting the role of the construction and agriculture sectors in the Irish economy.
Material consumption per person is among the highest in the OECD. Per person material footprint is also higher than the OECD average. On the other hand, material productivity is well above the OECD and OECD Europe averages.
Permanent meadows and pastures cover over half of the land area, by far the largest cover among OECD members. Peat soils cover 16% of the country, the third largest peatland cover in Europe (after Finland and Estonia). The share of artificial surface is among the lowest in the OECD. Intensive agriculture, housing and infrastructure development, alien species and resource extraction are among the main pressures on Ireland’s biodiversity (OECD, Environmental Performance Reviews: Ireland, 2021).
Ireland is home to more than 31 000 species. Much of Ireland’s richest biodiversity is in the marine environment. In addition to possessing a great range of invertebrate communities, the country has high numbers of whale and dolphin species, large seabird breeding colonies, cold water coral communities in the deep seas and many species at the northern or southern limits of their distributional range. Ireland is also an important staging post and destination for migratory birds and holds significant populations of birds, rare elsewhere in Europe, as well as internationally important wetland bird communities. Improvements have been made and more species are in favourable status, but many species continue to decline. Many of Ireland's important habitats have an unfavourable overall conservation status, particularly raised and blanket bogs, sand dune systems, fens and mires, natural grasslands and woodlands.
Protected areas cover a relatively low share or Ireland’s territory and exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The number of sites with strict management objectives (IUCN categories I and II) is also low. Only about 0.2% of the country’s land is covered by protected areas that have had management effectiveness assessments2 and the same is true for 0.02% of the EEZ.
This section shows selected policy instruments based on data available for most OECD countries and does not provide a complete overview of countries’ policy mix to achieve their environment-related objectives. Interpretation should consider the country specific context.
Real revenues from environmentally related taxes increased with the economic recovery in the second half of the 2010s. However, they did not keep pace with the growth of GDP and total tax revenue. Hence, when measured as a share of GDP and total tax revenue, revenues from environmentally related taxes decreased considerably. As in most OECD member countries, revenues raised on energy products represent the bulk of the revenues from environmentally related taxes. This was partly due to the introduction of a carbon tax in 2010 and its gradual increase in tax rates and coverage. A significant amount of revenues is also raised on motor vehicles’ purchase and use. Taxes on pollution and resource management are applied in the waste management sector but raised only modest amounts of revenue (OECD, Environmental Performance Reviews: Ireland, 2021).
In total, 56.7% of GHG emissions in Ireland were subject to a positive Net Effective Carbon Rate3 (ECR) in 2023. Explicit carbon prices in Ireland consist of emissions trading system (ETS) permit prices and carbon taxes, which cover 56.7% of GHG emissions in CO2 equivalent. With roughly 34.4% of total GHG emissions, coverage is largest for carbon taxes. Fuel excise taxes, an implicit form of carbon pricing, covered 16.8% of emissions in 2023. About 41% of GHG emissions have a Net ECR above EUR 60 per tonne of CO2 equivalent, a mid-range estimate of current carbon costs. Net ECRs are highest in the road transport sector, which accounts for 16.4% of the country’s total GHG emissions. The Net ECR is on average positive in all sectors (OECD, Pricing Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2024: Gearing Up to Bring Emissions Down, 2024).
Environment-related public research and development (R&D) accounted for a very low share of total government R&D budget in the early 2000s, but has increased since, to reach 3% in 2024. Ireland has prioritised research on renewables and energy efficiency. On average, almost half of the energy public research, development and demonstration (RD&D) budget focused on renewable sources in the second half of the 2010s, with a strong focus on ocean technology (OECD, 2021).
Ireland is a marginal player in environmentally related inventions, with less than 50 patent applications annually by national inventors in more than two jurisdictions. Their share in total inventions is also below the OECD average, at 6.1% in 2023.
Ireland focuses its development co-operation on least developed countries and fragile contexts, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, concentrating on social sectors and humanitarian assistance. Most official development assistance (ODA) is channelled to multilateral organisations and civil society. Climate change figures as one of the main priorities. However, while its share in bilateral ODA has been increasing in the past decade, reaching 28.8% in 2023-24, it remains below the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) standards. The share targeting biodiversity has not evolved significantly but, at 11.1% in 2023-24, is higher than the DAC average (OECD, 2026).
References
EPA. (2026). Ireland's National Inventory Document. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from https://unfccc.int/documents/656484
Hockings, M., & al, e. (2006). Evaluating Effectiveness. A framework for assessing management effectiveness of protected areas. 2nd Edition. IUCN. Retrieved from https://portals.iucn.org/library/efiles/documents/PAG-014.pdf
OECD. (2021). Environmental Performance Reviews: Ireland. OECD Publishing, Paris. doi:10.1787/9ef10b4f-en
OECD. (2024). Pricing Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2024: Gearing Up to Bring Emissions Down. OECD Series on Carbon Pricing and Energy Taxation, OECD Publishing, Paris. doi:10.1787/b44c74e6-en
OECD. (2026). Development Co-operation Profiles. OECD Publishing, Paris. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/development-co-operation-profiles_04b376d7-en/ireland_86b6d37b-en.html
Further reading and national references
Central Statistics Office: Environment Taxes
Central Statistics Office: Fossil Fuel Subsidies
Central Statistics Office: Material Flow Accounts
Environmental Protection Agency: Air quality
Environmental Protection Agency: GHG emissions
Environmental Protection Agency: Waste
Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Energy statistics
CBD (2022), Country profiles: Ireland, https://www.cbd.int/countries/profile/?country=ie
OECD (2022), OECD Economic Outlook, Volume 2022 Issue 1, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/62d0ca31-en
IEA (2019), Energy Policies of IEA Countries: Ireland 2019, Energy Policies of IEA Countries, IEA, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/1594fe3e-en
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← 1. Abstraction figures are likely to be underestimated for only those abstracting >25m3 per day are required to register. There may also be abstractions beyond this threshold not registered. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the abstracting agency to update information in the register and therefore data in the register may become outdated. Break in series in 2005 and 2018 (following an EU Regulation).
← 2. Protected Area Management Effectiveness evaluations, can be defined as: “the assessment of how well protected areas are being managed – primarily the extent to which management is protecting values and achieving goals and objectives" (Hockings & al, 2006).
← 3. Effective Carbon Rate (ECR) is the sum of fuel excise taxes, carbon taxes and tradeable permits that effectively put a price on carbon emissions. The Net ECR equals the ECR minus fossil fuel subsidies that decrease pre-tax fossil fuel prices.