34 minute read
Catharina Sikow-Magny, European Commission Decarbonising Europe’s economy
Catharina Sikow-Magny, Director of Green Transition and Energy System Integration at the European Commission, discusses the role of renewable energy in decarbonisation, the Fit for 55 legislative package, and how Ireland is leading the charge to decarbonise electricity.
The European Green Deal aims at making the EU climate neutral by 2050. To achieve this, a binding target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030 was set by the European Commission.
To implement this ambition, the Fit for 55 package was adopted in three parts: in summer 2021, 12 legal proposals aimed at making this target a costeffective reality were published with laws specific to renewables, energy efficiency, emissions, land use, and transport. In December 2021, then, the Commission published the second part of the package with legislative proposals focusing on how to decarbonise the gases sector and buildings.
Targets
Sikow-Magny says that one of the key objectives to realise the aims of the package is the rigorous deployment of renewable energies across all sectors. She notes that Europe had the 20-2020 targets for 2020 and met its targets by reducing emissions by 20 per cent, increased the share of renewables and improved energy efficiency.
“At the EU level, we have somewhat exceeded the 20 per cent target on renewables; we are at 21.3 per cent,” Sikow-Magny says, adding: “The situation in member states is very different as the targets were very different; Ireland has met its target with 16.2 per cent, slightly exceeding it. The specific success stories in the EU are in the electricity sector, where 37 per cent today comes from renewable sources and here Ireland has made spectacular progress recently and can clearly show best practice examples to other member states.”
Progress
In 2010, Europe had 110GW of solar and wind capacity cumulatively. Today, the EU has 120GW in solar and over 170GW in wind. In other sectors, progress has been too slow. However, sectors such as heating and cooling, industry, transport, all these sectors rely heavily on fossil fuels still, Sikow-Magny notes. “This is the situation in Ireland and everywhere in Europe almost and further efforts are needed to get these sectors on track for decarbonisation.
Here, electrification, offshore wind and renewables will play a very important role,” she says.
“It is extremely important to fully and correctly transpose the existing Renewables Directive. The transposition deadline was summer 2021 and, by then, all member states failed to transpose the directive. Ireland has only notified partial transposition, so we will of course call for full transposition of the directive so that progress can be made. We will call for further meetings to ensure coherent compliance. In the meantime, we also tabled the new proposal for reviewing the directive. It is a focused review concerned with how to accelerate uptake of renewables.”
In the context of the gas and oil price hikes currently happening in Europe, Sikow-Magny further emphasises the need for action: “The more renewables and the more energy efficiency we can bring into the economy, the lower the pressure on imports and prices will be. This is urgent.
Fit for 55
“The Fit for 55 package introduced a few changes to the directive. First was the ambition of the overall target, which was changed from 32 per cent to 40 per cent and given that the cost of many renewable technologies has come down significantly, 40 per cent has shown to be cost effective. Secondly, in order to bring the change more rapidly to the underperforming sectors, we have also proposed indicative binding targets for buildings, heating and cooling, transport and industry.”
The aim for the European Commission is for 65 per cent of all electricity to come from renewables by 2030. SikowMagny states that the Commission “appreciate[s] Ireland’s position here as being one of the leading countries and the ambition Ireland has set for itself is the model for other countries to follow” before again underlining the need to bring renewables to the heating and cooling sector.
“What we also need to put in place is storage and flexibility and end-user flexibility in particular by decarbonising the industrial processes where hydrogen can play a big role,” she says, emphasising: “Hydrogen is the third point, where incentives for boosting the hydrogen economy are being put in place and we also agree that hydrogen is likely to start in the industrial sector. By 2030, we could see cross-border hydrogen emerge across the EU.
“The fourth point is that we have proposed to strengthen some of the sustainability criteria that relate to biomass, which of course is a very significant source of renewables, representing 60 per cent of renewables today. While it is not increasing dramatically, it will continue to play an important role.”
Window of opportunity
Sikow-Magny confirms that the Commission will look to simplify and shorten permitting procedures by promoting the uptake of corporate purchase power agreements and by fostering cooperation in areas such as offshore wind. The Commission, she says, is aware of Ireland’s unique challenges surrounding interconnection and thus is happy to see the construction of the Celtic Interconnector progressing. “We strongly welcome Ireland’s efforts and commitments in particular to the phasing out of most polluting sources of energy such as peat,” she adds. “The aim for high investment in energy technologies of the future such as offshore wind, storage, hydrogen, and advanced system services, is also welcome.”
The Director concludes by sounding a note of warning about the short window of opportunity: “2030 is almost tomorrow. While it is eight years from now, in terms of infrastructure and production that is very close. This is ambitious and realistic, so we need to speed up and work together to develop best practices. Ireland can play a very important role vis à vis the experience it has and good practices it has developed, but also Ireland can learn from other member states when it comes to areas where it is lagging slightly behind.”
With renewable gases, the gas network will decarbonise Ireland’s energy system, says David Kelly, Gas Networks Ireland’s Director of Customer and Business Development.
Gas network of the past, present and future
Ireland’s €2.7 billion, 14,617km national gas network is considered one of the safest and most modern gas networks in the world, securely supplying more than 30 per cent of Ireland’s total energy, including 40 per cent of all heating and almost 50 per cent of the country’s electricity generation.
In the past, the gas network brought town gas to Irish homes. This gas of the past was produced in gasworks plants around the country by burning coal.
Since natural gas was discovered off the coast of Kinsale in the 1970s, the gas network has been helping Ireland reduce its carbon footprint by transporting this gas of the present, which emits 40 per cent less CO ₂ than coal and 22 per cent less CO ₂ than oil to 710,000 homes and businesses in Ireland. The gas network is now preparing to transport the gases of the future; cleaner, renewable gases such as hydrogen and biomethane, that will enable Ireland to meet its climate action targets in the most cost effective and least disruptive way.
Speaking at the Irish Renewable Energy Summit in February, Gas Networks Ireland’s Director of Customer and Business Development, David Kelly said renewable gases will substantially reduce the country’s carbon emissions while ensuring a secure and diverse energy supply.
“Ireland’s gas network is a national decarbonisation solution of size and scale. It’s ready for renewable energy,” Kelly said.
“A net-zero carbon gas network will reduce emissions across a number of key sectors, including those that are traditionally difficult to decarbonise, such as transport, agriculture, industry, heating and reliable power generation.
“With learnings from across Europe and the UK as well as insights from our own research and development facility, we’re preparing to transform the gas network and ultimately Ireland’s entire energy system to deliver a cleaner energy future in line with national and EU policy.”
Ireland must enhance and diversify its energy supply
The conflict in Ukraine has highlighted the need to enhance and diversify Ireland’s energy security through the development of a domestic renewable gas industry.
The European Commission’s new RePowerEU plan released on 8 March aims to reduce the European Union’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels by diversifying gas supplies and speeding up the roll-out of renewable gases.
This was followed days later by a letter to the Taoiseach from Ibec asking the Government to support the development of hydrogen and biomethane projects to both enhance the country’s energy security and provide opportunities to create a renewable gas industry in rural Ireland.
“We strongly agree with both the European Commission and Ibec’s positions on progressing the development of hydrogen and biomethane projects to both enhance the country’s energy security and create a sustainable renewable gas industry in Ireland,” Kelly said.
Biomethane is a carbon-neutral renewable gas that can be made from farm and food waste through a process known as anaerobic digestion. It is fully compatible with the existing national gas
network and appliances, technologies, and vehicles, meaning no expensive retrofitting is required.
Gas Networks Ireland first introduced small volumes of domestically produced biomethane onto Ireland’s gas network more than two years ago.
A large domestic biomethane industry would support the decarbonisation of the gas and electricity networks and all homes and businesses connected to them, and significantly reduce emissions in the agricultural sector.
It would also provide new income opportunities for local communities from the sale of the biomethane produced, the sale of crops fed into the anaerobic digestion process and the sale of the highly effective organic bio-fertiliser digestate that is a by-product of the process.
The Sustainability of Biomethane Production in Ireland report produced by Devenish Nutrition and KPMG Sustainable Futures in October 2021, concluded that agriculturally produced biomethane can be delivered sustainably and at scale to decarbonise Ireland’s energy system, without reducing the national herd, disrupting food production, intensifying agricultural activities, or impacting on biodiversity.
“Along with playing a key role in meeting national and EU climate action targets and making us less reliant on fossil fuels, there is significant scope for biomethane production in Ireland,” Kelly said.
“As far back as 2016, the European Commission identified Ireland as having the highest potential for biomethane production per capita in Europe.
“A domestic biomethane industry will decarbonise agriculture and our economy, while also facilitating sustainable circular economies, with food and beverage businesses for example powering their operations with renewable gas made from their own waste.”
Hydrogen will complement renewable electricity sources
Hydrogen is a carbon free gas that can be made from renewable electricity through a process known as electrolysis and stored until needed, making it an attractive option to decarbonise Ireland’s energy system and a strong example of how greater integration between Ireland’s gas and electricity networks can support a low carbon economy. Ireland’s gas network, it is believed blends of up to 20 per cent hydrogen could be transported on the existing infrastructure today.
Embraced in the UK and across Europe, hydrogen is a critical component of the European Green Deal and recognised by the European Commission as offering “a solution to decarbonise industrial processes and economic sectors where reducing carbon emissions is both urgent and hard to achieve”.
Gas Networks Ireland recently completed construction of a research and development facility in Dublin to develop a detailed hydrogen technical strategy and ensure that the existing gas network is capable of safely transporting and storing both blended and 100 per cent hydrogen into the future.
Dr Ali Ekhtiari from University College Dublin’s Energy Institute (UCDEI) is part of the research team working with Gas Networks Ireland to test the operation and performance of household appliances with varying levels of hydrogen and natural gas blends.
Using the testing facilities at both UCDEI’s Integrated Energy Lab and Gas Networks Ireland’s new off-network facility, Dr Ekhitiari and team are safely testing pipelines, meters, and appliances to understand the full potential of hydrogen in Ireland.
“Ireland has already transitioned to a cleaner gas once before, from the old town gas, which was a combination of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and methane, to natural gas in the 1980s.
“Ireland has a head start on this next chapter of transporting new low and carbon zero gases thanks to having one of the safest and most modern, renewables-ready gas networks in the world,” Kelly said.
Ali Ekhtiari from University College Dublin’s Energy Institute (UCDEI) is part of the research team working with Gas Networks Ireland at their new research and development facility in Dublin.
T: 021 453 4000 E: press@gasnetworks.ie W: www.gasnetworks.ie
“Ireland’s gas network is a national decarbonisation solution of size and scale. It’s ready for renewable energy. With learnings from across Europe and the UK as well as insights from our own research and David Kelly, Gas Networks development facility, we’re preparing Ireland’s Director of Customer and Business Development. to transform the gas network and ultimately Ireland’s entire energy system to deliver a cleaner energy future.”
Climate Action Plan 2021
In April 2022, the Dáil approved Ireland’s first ever carbon budget, a significant part of the Climate Action Plan 2021 (CAP21), which makes Ireland one of the most ambitious countries in the world on climate.
The carbon budget sets out the total amount of emissions that may be emitted in the State, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. The first proposed carbon budget cycle lasts until 2025 and allows for a total of 295 Mt of emissions to be produced, with a limit for 200 Mt between 2026 to 2030 and 151 Mt between 2031 to 2035.
The carbon budget follows the publication of CAP21 in November 2021, which set out draft target ranges for how far each sector will be required to reduce its emissions on 2018 levels, in order for the country’s overall emissions to halve by 2030.
Annual climate action plans, essentially sectoral roadmaps for meeting national 2050 climate objectives, are required under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Acts 2015 to 2021. CAP21 identifies 475 actions, building on CAP19 and many of these actions have been referenced in budget allocations within the €156 billion National Development Plan.
Delivery of CAP21 will require approximately €45 billion in additional capital expenditure, €25 billion of which will be required for the buildings sector, €15 billion for the power sector, and €5 billion in transport. More broadly an estimated €125 billion will need to be mobilised towards low-carbon technologies and infrastructure out to 2030.
The share of additional total investment will vary substantially by sector, as will the expected emission cut needed. CAP21 sets out target ranges for each sector if Ireland is to reduce emissions by 51 per cent by 2030, against 2018 figures.
• Electricity: 62-81 per cent
• Buildings: 44-56 per cent
• Transport: 42-50 per cent
• Land and forestry emissions: 37-58 per cent
• Industry: 29-41 per cent
• Agriculture: 22-30 per cent
Electricity
CAP21 raises the ambition of the proportion of renewable electricity to 80 per cent by 2030. Of the 15GW of new renewable capacity, quadrupling of current renewable capacity, 5GW is to come from offshore energy, 1.5-2.5GW from solar PV and 2GW from new gasfired power. Alongside the proposed microgeneration support scheme, the Government has pledged to introduce a small-scale generator scheme, allowing communities to feed into the grid. As well as plans to develop improved storage and deploy renewable gas, CAP21 also sets out a review of the strategy on data centres to align with sectoral emission targets.
Buildings
Building on the existing commitment to retrofit 500,000 residential homes by 2030, the Government has said it recognises the need to assist broader society with retrofitting costs. A total of 50,000 commercial buildings are to be serviced by zero-carbon heating. CAP21 sets out plans for a further three specialist training centres to be established to support the new National Retrofit Plan. A regulatory framework for district heating, as well as identifying appropriate financing mechanisms and the allocation of support to projects from the Climate Action Fund, is expected to deliver 2.7 TWh of district heating.
Transport
The plan calls for a 14 per cent increase in public transport and active travel journeys by 2030, meaning 500,000 extra walking, cycling and public transport journeys per day. As well as increasing use of electric cars by 40-45 per cent of the proportion of kilometres driven, the plan also seeks a 10 per cent reduction in kilometres driven by internal combustion engine cars. By 2030, all replacement bus and commuter rail vehicles are to be low or zero carbon and CAP21 plans for an increased rollout of rural public transport through Connecting Ireland.
Land use
It is recognised that in order to reduce emissions, Ireland’s land use will need to be transformed from a carbon source to a carbon sink. Doing so will require a range of measures including bog rehabilitation, grassland management, organic soil rewetting and increased afforestation. In aid of this, the Government has announced preparation for a new forestry programme launch in 2023. It is also intended that 30 per cent of Ireland’s marine area is designated as Marine Protected Area.
Industry
The Government plans to produce a Climate Toolkit for business, adding to work from the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the SEAI to decarbonise industry and align grants with other supports. Included in the measures to cut emissions are increasing the uptake of carbon-neutral heating and decreasing the embodied carbon in building materials through more wood in construction.
Agriculture
The Government says it will incentivise increased organic farming and diversification into forestry, biomethane and energy production. Potentially the biggest target relates to collaboration between the agriculture and waste sectors, targeting 1.6 TWh per annum of biomethane for injection to the grid. Alongside plans to incentivise increased organic farming, CAP21 sets out plans to explore further pathways to emissions reduction through the likes of land diversification, herd-related methane, and farm carbon trading.
Outside of the identified sectors, CAP21 identified further measures including the €100/tonne by 2030 carbon tax raising of €9.5 billon, €5 billion of which has been allocated to retrofits, €3 billion for just transition and €1.5 billion for the promotion of sustainable agriculture practices. Additionally, a Bioeconomy Action Plan is anticipated by 2022 following the publication of the Circular Economy Strategy and targets for the public sector of 51 per cent emissions reduction and 50 per cent energy efficiency improvement from 2016-2018 levels.
Climate Action Plan 2022 is expected to fully reflect the legally adopted carbon budgets and sectoral ceilings. In recent Dáil questions, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan TD confirmed that the 2022 plan will be published in Q4 2022.
European trends in climate litigation
Climate litigation, as a way of advancing a variety of strategic environmental aims, has increased over the past 30 years. These types of cases will inevitably increase as countries grapple with efforts to reduce emissions and manage their transition to a low carbon economy.
Climate litigation trends
There is a growing public consciousness of the impact of climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report of August 2021, warning of a near inevitable, calamitous 1.5oC of warming in the next 20 years, has heightened this. The types of climate litigation being brought varies, but definite trends are emerging such as:
• Presenting climate change as a human rights issue, with the risks of climate change engaging Article 2 thin(right to life) and Article 8 (private and family life) of the European
Convention on Human Rights [“ECHR”]; • States are being held to account by their own judiciary to take proper steps towards their stated climate action objectives, what was once seen as an area of policy exclusively within the remit of the legislature has become a focus of legal scrutiny;
• Nuisance claims, disclosure-related litigation, and challenges to development consents due to their climate impacts are increasingly being pursued against private corporations; and
• Claims of deceptive “greenwashing” marketing campaigns are being brought before courts and nonjudicial bodies.
High profile climate wins in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium
In December 2019, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands ordered the Government to cut the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent by the end of 2020 compared to 1990 levels. This was a historic judgment, as it was the first time a nation has been required by its courts to take action against climate change. The Dutch NGO, Urgenda, took the proceedings with nearly 900 co-plaintiffs, seeking significant reductions in Dutch greenhouse gas emissions. The Court rejected all of the State’s arguments, including the claim that emissions from the Netherlands were small (roughly around 0.4 per cent of global emissions) such that the impact of tightening its emissions reduction policies would just be a “drop in the ocean”. The Supreme Court determined that the State was required to do its “part” to counter the risk of climate change and to reduce emissions in line with its “fair share” of global emissions reductions.
Elsewhere in Europe, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that Germany's Federal Climate Change Act was unconstitutional and incompatible with fundamental rights. The Court ordered the German legislature to amend the Climate Change Act by 31 December 2022 and to introduce more specific provisions on how to reduce carbon emissions. Similarly, Belgium's mitigation policies were struck down in June 2021 as being insufficient to adequately address the effects of climate change. This was considered to be a violation of both the general duty of care recognised under Article 1382 of the Belgian Civil Code as well as Articles 2 and 8 of the ECHR. These decisions emphasised the consequences for future generations of failure to take action against climate change.
It is not just governments that have been forced to defend climate litigation. In May 2021, the Hague District Court ruled, in a claim brought against Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS), that RDS is
Alison Fanagan, Consultant
obliged to reduce its carbon emissions by 45 per cent, compared to 2019 levels, by the end of 2030. The Court ruled that RDS has an unwritten duty of care to contribute to the prevention of dangerous climate change. This is the first time that a company has been held liable for reducing emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. This is under appeal.
Climate litigation in Ireland
Two recent Irish Supreme Court decisions reflect the benefits, but also the limitations, of such challenges. In June 2020, Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) successfully challenged Ireland's National Mitigation Plan in a case known as Climate Case Ireland, for its failure to ensure that Ireland met its “national transition objective” of a low carbon and environmentally resilient future, as required under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015. The Supreme Court ruled in favour of FIE and quashed the Plan, owing to its lack of specificity.
In the second case, An Taisce challenged the grant of a planning permission to construct a €140 million cheese factory in Kilkenny. This was primarily on the basis that the environmental assessment failed to assess the wider indirect environmental consequences which would arise from the construction of this factory i.e., expansion of the national herd, which would in turn lead to enhanced methane and other greenhouse gas emissions. In February 2022, the Supreme Court disagreed with the High Court, expressing concern about artificially expanding the remit of environmental assessment legislation. It concluded that generally speaking (and there could be narrow exceptions to this), indirect environmental impacts arising from inputs or outputs (like milk production or plastic wrapping on cheese) did not require to be assessed.
Alan Roberts, Partner Mark Thuillier, Associate
Conclusion
Climate litigation places courts in a challenging position, where they are often forced to confront contentious policy issues, navigate difficulties in dealing with scientific evidence and the limitations of certain environmental assessments, and strike an appropriate balance in their role under the separation of powers. Given the urgent need to reduce emissions, and the growing volume of climate legislation and plans at both an EU and Irish level, this trend of novel and creative climate challenges is only likely to grow.
Alison Fanagan Consultant, A&L Goodbody E: afanagan@algoodbody.com
Alan Roberts Partner, A&L Goodbody E: aroberts@algoodbody.com
Mark Thuillier Associate, A&L Goodbody E: mthuillier@algoodbody.com
The circular economy and climate ambitions
Assistant Secretary leading the Circular Economy, Natural Resources and Waste Policy function in the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC), Philip Nugent, discusses the importance of the circular economy transition as a companion to climate action in Ireland.
Outlining progress on his directorate’s ambitions over the past year, not least the establishment of a circular economy as a mainstream function of the Department, the development of the circular economy strategy and the driving of circular economy-related actions in the Waste Action Plan, Nugent says that while progress is welcome, the transition for Ireland and the EU remains very challenging.
The Assistant Secretary stresses the need to shift the focus of the circular economy beyond waste and recognise it as a key component of climate action. “The emissions arising from waste are a tiny part of our national inventory. Instead, our major emissions savings lie on the materials management side, to reduce our production and consumption emissions,” he says.
“We need to shift the focus from thinking about the circular economy as a thing that is to do with waste to one that is a cross-sectoral enabler of climate action across all sectors.”
Setting out the context for the need for acceleration of the circular economy agenda, Nugent highlights estimations that business-as-usual will require three planets to continue. “Renewables and energy efficiency will get us so far but embedding circularity across all sectors will get us further,” he states. “Up to 80 per cent of product environmental impacts are determined at design phase and we need to reduce life-cycle climate and environmental footprints of products. Ireland is probably too small to do that on its own, that is why there is great strength for us in working with EU colleagues to ensure that we can achieve it at community level.”
Nugent stresses the need to pursue circularity principles across multiple regulatory codes to embed circularity principles and believes that clear data on material flows, is a key component of moving the circular economy “from the margins into the mainstream”.
However, the number one challenge he identifies in this area is around communication and the need to “demystify the circular economy” as a concept.
In 2019, research conducted by the EPA and Ibec found that only 51 per cent of Ibec member companies understand what is meant by circular economy, emphasising that the public understanding of the principle is poor.
“It is really important that people understand the inextricable link between the circular economy and the climate action process. There is a risk that we do not fully appreciate the extent of the communication challenge and how people might struggle to break down what the circular economy can mean for households, businesses or organisations and I think the more working examples we can provide, be that a ban on disposable coffee cups or the presence of reverse vending machines through the deposit and return scheme, the more the dial will be shifted in terms of recognising the benefits.”
The Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy, published in September 2020, contains a number of headline actions, including a deposit and return scheme for plastic bottles and aluminium cans, set for commencement later this year and the recently approved Circular Economy Bill provides for a range of initiatives including a waste recovery levy to encourage recycling, new 2030 sustainable packaging targets, the application of incentivised pricing to commercial waste and placing the new whole of Government Circular Economy Strategy 2022-2023 on a statutory footing.
Explaining how the circular economy can extend beyond waste and apply to all sectors, Nugent points to characteristics including designing for circularity, products as a service, reverse logistics and industrial symbiosis, as examples of how it can be applied. In turn, such actions will have environmental, economic, and social benefits.
Performance
Nugent outlines his belief that there are serious advantages in a country like Ireland being an early adapter of circularity in a European context but admits that to date, performance has been somewhat poor.
Recent statistics show that Ireland’s circular material use rate was the second worst in the EU, with a 1.6 per cent rate comparing unfavourably to the EU average of 11.9 per cent and worse still than leading nations such as the Netherlands, which boasts a high of 28.5 per cent.
The Assistant Secretary believes a number of reasons have contributed to Ireland’s poor performance, including the structure of the domestic economy and Ireland’s location as an island on the geographical periphery of the EU, however, he is positive in that seeking to accelerate its circular economy, through overarching circular economy policies, Ireland can join the trend of countries which have previously done so to great success.
Outlining how the publication of the Whole-of-Government Circular Economy Strategy, published at the end of 2021, will assist, Nugent says it will:
• provide a national policy framework for Ireland’s transition to a circular economy and promote public sector leadership in adopting circular policies and practices; circularity gap, so that Ireland’s rate is above the EU average by 2030;
• raise awareness amongst households, business and individuals about the circular economy and how it can improve their lives;
• support and promote increased investment in the circular economy in Ireland, with a view to delivering sustainable, regionally balanced economic growth and employment;
• identify and address the economic, regulatory, and social barriers to
Ireland's transition to a more circular economy; and
• enable a new Circular Economy
Advisory Group to support implementation of this strategy and help develop a Circular Economy
Strategy 2.0.
Considering why an emphasis was already being placed on the development of a subsequent strategy, Nugent states: “We recognise that, to a large extent, this current strategy is about socialising the concept of the circular economy and setting the direction, however, the next strategy needs to be much more action-focused in a way that the Waste Action Plan is.”
Nugent adds: “There are specific actions in the current strategy, most of which are focused on how the public sector can lead by example but we need to ratchet up that ambition and make sure we adopt a much more action-focused approach in subsequent iterations of the strategy.”
Developing sustainable buildings through circular design
The construction sector is witnessing an unprecedented policy and regulatory environment for climate-related legislation and action plans in Ireland. Organisations are becoming concerned about the impact of climate-related risks on their business, strategy, and outlook, writes Matt Kennedy, Carbon and Climate Lead, at Arup in Ireland.
The transformation of the buildings sector will be driven by climate mitigation requirements and climate risks to assets. Yet, it often appears as if the design, construction, and operation of buildings give little consideration to the amount of carbon emitted.
Global carbon emissions from buildings and construction were 37 per cent of total emissions in 20201, with the built environment being responsible for almost 50 per cent of raw materials consumption in Europe2. Given the scale of such emissions, the achievement of more sustainable outcomes that benefit organisations and contribute to meeting targets or mitigating climate risks must be prioritised.
Almost half of global greenhouse gas emissions come from embodied carbon emitted through the production and operational processes. Future designs need to eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials, and regenerate nature to help tackle climate change.
Designers need to become more conscious of the carbon and material consequences of every stage of a building’s lifecycle. While the current strategy to 2030 is focused on reducing operational carbon emissions in buildings, a wider net zero perspective that embeds circular economy techniques within properties is needed. Building designers, construction companies and asset owners face everincreasing demands that are impacting the pursuit of low carbon, resourceefficient buildings.
Our solution
Arup and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation have co-created a Circular Buildings Toolkit. We are aiding the transition towards a circular economy model of ‘eliminate, circulate, regenerate’ by offering a path towards net zero emissions.
We want to demonstrate how the property sector can reduce embodied carbon and increase material efficiency.
We want to contribute to accelerating decarbonisation of, and wider systemic change within, the global property sector.
This is about embedding circularity across the property sector value chain and helping to deliver fast and scalable reductions in built environment carbon emissions. By reimagining our buildings as an asset bank, materials can be repurposed and stay in use for longer. Given the startling scale of emission growth, we have made this toolkit accessible online and free to use as we want to encourage the toolkit’s adoption across asset owners, developers, and investors.
Delivering more sustainable outcomes
Our Circular Buildings Toolkit provides a series of practical actions to embed circular practices across the lifecycle of a building, alongside several case studies that help bring the strategy to life. It has an overall aim of reducing waste and carbon emissions and so targets construction materials, which currently lose 95 per cent of their value as buildings depreciate and are eventually demolished.
At Arup, we are also focused on the avoidance of stranded assets. We want to help investors, building owners and developers to prevent their assets from becoming devalued in the first instance, while also striving to generate future value, allowing the sector to deliver on its climate-neutrality ambitions. The Circular Buildings Toolkit supports organisations to keep their property assets in use at their highest value for as long as possible. Away from the value destruction linked to demolition, the Toolkit also helps recast assets as ‘materials banks’, helping the real estate, construction and manufacturing industry sectors to generate value.
In terms of preventing stranded asset risk, we are anticipating new regulations relating to circular performance and decarbonisation of assets in response to instruments such as the EU Taxonomy. We are also limiting the risk of potential write-downs.
Embedding circularity at the heart of building design and operations will enable building owners and operators to reduce consumption-based emissions, increase biodiversity and create added economic and social value.
Learning from exemplar practice
Our toolkit includes best practice circularity case studies, e.g., the People’s Pavilion in the Netherlands which was made entirely from borrowed materials, prefabricated timber structures in London and a modular lighting system in Seoul.
The toolkit has already been used by Arup and Futur2K during the design and construction of ADPT, a new circular building system which will unveil its first prototype in Essen, Germany in May. In this project, the toolkit has been used to create a system of timber units that can be adapted to many uses. Flexibility and versatility are key: each module can be configured to meet a range of purposes, from commercial to residential, and floor plans that can be flexed to meet current and future needs.
The future of design is circular. We want to help organisations across the built environment to design out waste and maximise the lifecycle and value of products and materials.
T: +353 1 233 44 55
Immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors are required if global warming is to be limited to 1.5oC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned.
In the third in a series of assesment reports by the IPCC designed to update governments and policy makers on the latest scientific findings related to tackling climate changes, IPCC Working Group III Co-Chair Jim Skea described a “now or never” scenario if global warming is to be limited to below the target set out in the Paris climate accord.
In August 2021, a previous report by the IPCC, detailing the potential impacts of rising global temperatures, was described as a “code red for humanity” by the UN Secretary General António Guterres. The latest report published in April 2022, is designed to set out the scale of measures that are required to limit warming to an acceptable level.
The report outlines that even with all existing national decarbonisation ambitions implemented, by the end of the century, global temperatures will rise by 3.2oC For context, severe and extreme weather patterns currently seen across the globe are the result of a 1.1oC rise.
Underscoring the need for transformative changes to everything from energy systems to land use and investment, the report says that limiting warming to 1.5oC will require a 43 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2019 levels by 2030. Carbon emissions would need to peak in the next three years, falling rapidly after that, reaching net zero by 2050. actions that will be required are detailed in the report, including:
• Fossil fuels
Despite global pledges to reduce emissions, the reality is that emissions rose by 6 per cent in 2021, in parallel with economic activity. As expected, the report highlights that this alignment will only be broken if fossil fuels are removed. The scale of reduction required will mean traditional coal use would have to fall by 95 per cent by 2050 and the report suggests the 85 per cent decrease in alternative green energy technologies since 2010 is an enabler of ending the age of fossil fuel.
• Carbon dioxide removal
Simply decarbonising current processes will not be enough, and for the first time the report identifies the importance of carbon removal from the atmosphere. The IPCC has endorsed carbon dioxide removal (CDR), be that through removal technologies such as filters or increased trees, however, it acknowledges that the preservation and expansion of forests to absorb carbon will not “fully compensate for delayed action” in other sectors. Critics have said that the focus on technology presents too easy a solution for high-polluting countries and industries for not transforming their processes.
• Efficiency
Also new, the report includes a chapter on the social aspects of mitigating emissions, with a focus on reducing demand for energy in the areas of mobility, nutrition, and shelter. Highlighting that approximately 10 per cent of the world’s richest households are responsible for 40 per cent of global emissions, the report states that changing individual behaviours could cut emissions by between 40 to 70 per cent by 2050.
• Finance
Understandably, greater investment is needed in low-carbon energy if warming is to be limited. Investment will need to increase by around three to six times than current levels, but the IPCC report stresses that some of the additional investment required already exists. Alongside recommending the removal of government subsidies for fossil fuel, the report points out the existing financial cost of climate disaster recovery and suggests that efforts to lower warming, while probably slightly costlier than limiting warming, brings with it much greater cobenefits.
