{"id":527260,"date":"2026-07-01T08:18:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T08:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/527260\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T08:18:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T08:18:15","slug":"ireland-faces-e13bn-annual-bill-by-2050-for-missing-climate-targets-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/527260\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland faces \u20ac13bn annual bill by 2050 for missing climate targets \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Failing to meet the State\u2019s climate targets <\/a>could cost the exchequer up to \u20ac13 billion a year by 2050, the Government\u2019s budgetary watchdog has warned.<\/p>\n

In a fresh report, highlighting the dangers of stalling on climate action<\/a>, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (Ifac) said the main costs to the State would come from European Union fines for missing targets and the loss of tax revenue from the shift to electric motoring.<\/p>\n

Inaction would also result in slower growth from weaker productivity and, as a result of \u201ccapital destruction\u201d from extreme weather events, both of which come with a fiscal drag<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"How will Ireland navigate the EU presidency? <\/p>\n

Taken together, these costs could amount to as much as 4 per cent of national income by 2050, the Ifac warns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn today\u2019s money, that would be \u20ac13 billion [a year],\u201d said Ifac chief economist Niall Conroy.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut obviously, the numbers will be bigger in 2050 as the economy will be bigger and the cost of everything [will be] higher. But the \u20ac13 billion is a good way of expressing it in today\u2019s terms,\u201d said Conroy.<\/p>\n

The warning came as a second spike in temperatures <\/a>is expected across much of western Europe early next week. The most severe and widespread heatwave <\/a>ever, which has caused hundreds of deaths, is only possible due to the climate crisis driven by fossil fuel burning, scientists have said.<\/p>\n

Heatwave grips Europe as temperatures pass 40\u00b0C. Video: Eoin Ronayne <\/p>\n

Ifac\u2019s report assessed the long-term fiscal impacts of climate policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It noted that the State faced a choice between investing upfront to electrify transport, upgrade buildings and decarbonise or risk paying large, open-ended costs for missing legally binding EU targets.<\/p>\n

Minister for Climate <\/a>Darragh O\u2019Brien has conceded that the Republic will not hit its target of halving carbon emissions by 2030.<\/p>\n

In a best-case scenario, the Environmental Protection Agency indicates the State could achieve a carbon emissions reduction of 25 per cent by 2030.<\/p>\n

Ifac anticipates that the fines for not meeting our targets in 2030 would be paid in 2032 and that they will range from \u20ac6.8 billion to as high as \u20ac26 billion.<\/p>\n

In its report, the Ifac noted that the \u20ac5 billion spent in recent years on temporary fuel and energy supports \u201ccould have instead funded more lasting alternatives, like deep retrofits for over 110,000 homes or enhanced \u20ac10,000 subsidies for half a million electric vehicles\u201d.<\/p>\n

The other main cost to the exchequer here from failing to act will be the loss of tax revenue from the switch to electric motoring. <\/p>\n

The ongoing shift towards electric vehicles and electrification means tax revenues tied to fossil fuels will fall significantly.<\/p>\n

The switch to electric motoring is expected to cost the exchequer at least \u20ac2.5 billion in lost tax revenue a year by 2030, according to one estimate.<\/p>\n

The Ifac advocates replacing this lost revenue through measures like congestion charges and distance-based road charges.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoing nothing is a high-risk strategy,\u201d said the Ifac. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt risks leaving Ireland exposed to open-ended costs of missing EU commitments, volatile fossil fuel prices, and the severe economic damages of more extreme weather,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

A credible plan could reduce the overall cost of climate change for the State\u2019s budget balance to just 1 per cent of national income (less than \u20ac4 billion in today\u2019s money). <\/p>\n

By contrast, doing nothing could result in an annual hit to the public finances as much as two to four times larger by 2050.<\/p>\n

\u201cInvesting in home retrofits, public transport, renewable energy and the electricity grid can guarantee tangible local benefits, said the Ifac. \u201cIt would mean cleaner air, lower healthcare costs, lower running costs for homes and vehicles, and greater energy security.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Failing to meet the State\u2019s climate targets could cost the exchequer up to \u20ac13 billion a year by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":527261,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,2885,25815,15910,61,60,10297],"class_list":["post-527260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-climate-change","tag-climate-sustainability","tag-darragh-o-brien","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irish-fiscal-advisory-council"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}