How Ireland's climate policies built up, year by year
Explore 34 selected core policy families addressing Ireland's greenhouse-gas emissions, with annual records for 2000–2023. The dataset combines Ireland's policy reports in the European Environment Agency (EEA) database with scores from the OECD's Climate Actions and Policies Measurement Framework (CAPMF).
It also includes 5 residual bundles: one summary row per sector for smaller measures not listed individually.
How the dataset was built
Two very different sources were combined into one year-by-year record of policies.
- 1
Combine two sources
Ireland reported 104 policy records to the EU: 98 individual measures and 6 group records that summarise others. The OECD scores 56 policy categories (130 detailed indicators) for 1990–2023.
- 2
Screen candidates
Five eligibility tests screened 115 candidate policies, and 64 passed. The reason for every decision is recorded.
- 3
Select the core
The selection targets at least 90% of positive reported savings among eligible measures in each sector where this can be assessed. No percentage can be calculated for land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF), where eligible estimates sum to zero. Named instruments linked to OECD scores ("OECD anchors") are also included. Smaller eligible measures form sector-specific residual bundles.
- 4
Score every year
Each selected policy–sector series receives an annual 0–1 intensity index. It multiplies an implementation proxy (OECD stringency or assumed timing) by researcher-assigned ordinal scores for sector coverage and how compulsory the measure is ("bindingness"). These scores describe policy design and scope; they do not measure observed implementation or effectiveness.
Read the full methodology, selection flow and validation checks
Emissions context
Compare each sector's 2023 emissions (left) with the number of selected policy series (right). Series counts do not measure policy ambition, effectiveness or the share of emissions addressed.
Agriculture was Ireland's largest emitting sector in 2023, mainly through methane from livestock and nitrous oxide from fertiliser and manure. The dataset includes two individually selected agricultural policies and a residual bundle containing a crude-protein reduction measure.
Energy-related sectors, by contrast, are covered by many overlapping instruments.
Differences in series counts reflect the selection rules and source coverage as well as policy history. The CAPMF extract used here contains no direct sector-specific stringency scores for agriculture, waste or land use. The chart is not a complete inventory of policies in those sectors.
Environmental Protection Agency, final greenhouse-gas inventory 1990–2024 (March 2026), values for 2023. Dashboard sectors aggregate EPA categories as noted. National total excluding LULUCF: 54.99 Mt CO₂e. LULUCF was a net source of 2.97 Mt CO₂e.
Where the policies sit
Darker cells hold more policy series. Select a cell to list them, or hover over a heading for its meaning.
A policy that covers several sectors (for example the carbon tax) appears once in each sector it affects.
Four layers of policy
Each row sits at one of four levels, from broad laws to smaller measures. The layers overlap, so do not add them together.
Framework
Umbrella laws and governance: climate acts, carbon budgets, the advisory council. They set direction but do not cut emissions on their own, so they are never added to instruments.
Instrument
A legal or economic lever that directly changes behaviour: a tax, a trading system, a building code or an obligation.
Programme
A delivery scheme that implements policy on the ground, usually grants or support programmes run by agencies such as SEAI.
Residual bundle
One summary row per sector for smaller eligible measures not selected individually. Members are documented in each bundle's profile and are not separate core rows. Bundle scores are averages and must not be added to other policy scores.
Recorded policy activity
Series classified as active rose from 7 in 2000 to 43 in 2023. These counts follow the dataset's start and end conventions; a recorded start may reflect the first positive OECD score rather than legal commencement.
Sources of the implementation proxy
Dark bars use OECD scores; orange bars use assumed timing. Counts include core series from their recorded start, including years of modelled post-expiry effects. Residual bundles are excluded. Coverage and bindingness remain researcher-assigned in both groups.
How to read the data
- Intensity is not emissions saved. It is a relative 0–1 index combining a policy-design or timing proxy with sector coverage and bindingness. It does not estimate tonnes of emissions avoided.
- Reported savings are for selection only. They repeat across years and sectors, so never add them up.
- Rows are not additive. Frameworks and portfolios can overlap with individual measures. Residual members are not listed separately in the core, but their bundle scores are averages, not additional emissions savings. Check each policy's "aggregation role" before combining rows.
- Some timing is assumed. Assumed timing uses ramp-up and, where applicable, post-expiry decay. The timeline hatches assumed years for non-residual series from their recorded start. Residual bundles may mix OECD-derived and assumed values without hatching.
- Selection uses recent assessments. See the main caveat at the top of this page.