Ireland’s 2025 Climate Action Plan: Will It Deliver?

Introduction

In early 2025, the Irish Government released its latest Climate Action Plan — an ambitious blueprint aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030. This follows on from earlier climate pledges, but with the clock ticking ever louder, the pressure is mounting for action that goes beyond policy statements and starts making a real difference on the ground.

The updated Plan leans heavily on energy efficiency, electric vehicles (EVs), and the growth of renewable energy, while also tackling long-standing planning and regulatory barriers. For many, especially in rural Ireland, the plan offers a mix of cautious optimism and practical concern.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s in the Plan, what it means for rural and agricultural communities, and why — despite some positive steps — questions remain over whether Ireland is moving fast enough to meet its targets.

Big Promises, Big Numbers: What’s in the Plan?

1. €500 Million for Energy Upgrades

One of the headline commitments in this year’s Climate Action Plan is a €500 million investment in improving energy efficiency across homes. Of this, €280 million is being channelled into the Warmer Homes Scheme, offering free retrofitting to households at risk of fuel poverty — a move likely to benefit older rural homes that rely on more traditional heating systems.

Another €270 million is earmarked for grants covering heat pumps, insulation, and solar panel installation. For many living in draughty, oil-heated houses across the countryside, this could be a lifeline. Better-insulated homes don’t just reduce energy bills — they improve health, comfort and long-term quality of life.

However, there’s a practical challenge here. While the funding is welcome, retrofitting requires skilled tradespeople — and Ireland is currently facing shortages in this area. Without a parallel investment in training and workforce capacity, the rollout risks being slower than anticipated.

2. Boosting Electric Vehicle Infrastructure

Another key area of focus is transport. The Plan includes the installation of 170 high-powered EV charging stations around the country. This is timely, given that Ireland now has nearly 110,000 electric vehicles on the road — a little over halfway to the 2025 target.

But one of the most persistent criticisms of the EV rollout to date is that rural areas have been left behind. If you live in a village or a farming community, you may still struggle to find a reliable charging point within a reasonable distance. For people whose livelihoods depend on travel — from farm deliveries to rural healthcare — that’s a real barrier to switching to electric.

If the new charging points are well-placed and well-maintained, they could help close that rural-urban divide. But again, it all comes down to delivery. Are we building infrastructure fast enough to match the growing number of EVs on the road?

3. Cleaner Power: Wind, Oil and What Comes Next

Ireland has always had huge potential when it comes to renewable energy — particularly offshore wind. The Plan takes this further with a third offshore wind auction, opening up new opportunities to harness clean power at scale. This is a positive move, especially if local communities are meaningfully included in the development process.

Meanwhile, the coal-fired power station at Moneypoint in County Clare is being converted to run on oil and many are questioning why we’re not moving straight to renewable alternatives. Is this a stepping stone — or a delay tactic?

4. Tackling the Planning Gridlock

One of the less headline-grabbing, but perhaps most critical elements of the Plan is the push to reform Ireland’s planning system. Delays in getting permissions for wind farms, solar arrays, and even energy-efficient homes have long held back progress.

Developers and local authorities alike have cited the system as overly slow and complex. The Plan promises to streamline this, which could unlock a lot of stuck projects. But here too, care is needed. Planning reforms must still protect the environment and give communities a real say — otherwise, the long-term trust that’s needed for successful transition could be lost.

What Does This Mean for Rural Communities and Agriculture?

While the 2025 Climate Action Plan doesn’t place agriculture front and centre, its knock-on effects are set to be felt right across the countryside. From how we heat our homes to the way land is used and transport is powered, rural Ireland is poised for significant – and potentially positive – change.

Energy Upgrades in Rural Homes

A large share of rural homes in Ireland are older buildings, with over 40% built before 1980. Many of these properties rely on oil heating, with around two-thirds of rural households still using oil-based systems. These homes tend to have poor insulation and lower energy efficiency ratings, making them more expensive to heat – especially during long, cold winters.

Retrofitting these homes isn't just about hitting climate targets. It's also about improving quality of life, cutting down on household energy bills, and reducing exposure to fuel poverty. For many rural families, these upgrades could make homes more comfortable, healthier, and more resilient in the face of rising energy costs.

Opportunities in Renewable Energy

Farmers and landowners are increasingly being presented with opportunities to participate in Ireland’s green energy transition. A new support scheme for small-scale renewable electricity projects allows farms to generate wind or solar power at a local level and earn a guaranteed income over 15 years.

Depending on the project size, this could be a significant and stable revenue stream – all while helping the country move towards its renewable energy targets. There’s also growing interest in ‘agrivoltaics’, which involves combining farming with solar energy production on the same land. This approach can increase land use efficiency and allow farmers to continue grazing livestock or growing crops alongside generating clean electricity.

With the right advice and support, these options could provide rural families with sustainable ways to diversify their income and future-proof their land use.

Early Steps Towards Electrification

Although electric tractors and farm machinery are still in the early stages of development, the groundwork is already being laid. The expansion of EV charging infrastructure across the country will help make the transition to electric vehicles more viable for rural households.

Even having reliable access to a charging point can make a big difference for families considering a switch to electric cars or vans. Over time, as electric agricultural equipment becomes more affordable and accessible, the countryside could see a gradual but important shift away from fossil fuels in transport and machinery.

The Challenges We Still Face

The EPA’s Stark Warning

The Environmental Protection Agency has delivered a sobering forecast: even with all measures included in the 2025 Climate Action Plan, Ireland is on track to cut emissions by just 29% by 2030 — a long way off the legally binding 51% target. Under current policies alone, the projected reduction could be as low as 11%.

These figures suggest Ireland is likely to overshoot its first two carbon budgets (2021–2025 and 2026–2030) by between 17% and 27%. That’s not a small gap — and it raises serious concerns about the scale and urgency of action required in the years ahead.

The Agriculture Dilemma

Agriculture remains Ireland’s largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for just under 38% of the national total in 2023. While there was a 4.6% drop in emissions last year — helped by a notable 18% reduction in nitrogen fertiliser use — the bigger, more structural shifts needed are still lacking.

Without further intervention, projections suggest that agricultural emissions may only fall by between 1% and 18% by the end of the decade. Measures such as greater uptake of protected urea fertilisers, methane-reducing feed additives, improved manure management, and shorter animal finishing times could all help — but these changes remain politically and practically challenging. Conversations around herd size, land use change, and diversification continue to be sensitive topics that are yet to be tackled head-on.

The Cost of Inaction

Failing to meet Ireland’s climate targets could carry a significant price tag. Estimates suggest the country may face financial penalties ranging from €8 billion to €26 billion if it fails to stay within its carbon budgets. These costs would arise from having to purchase surplus emissions allowances from other EU countries and could equate to between 3% and 9% of national income.

This isn’t just a case of missed environmental targets — it’s a risk to economic stability and future public spending. Without urgent and meaningful progress, the burden could fall on future generations in the form of higher taxes, reduced public investment, and lost credibility on the international stage.

Conclusion

Ireland’s 2025 Climate Action Plan is, in many ways, a necessary step. It puts forward a more structured and realistic roadmap than we’ve seen in the past, and the investment in home energy and EV infrastructure is welcome.

But whether it delivers — and delivers fast enough — is the real test. Funding, workforce capacity, public engagement and political will all need to line up. There’s still a lot of ground to cover, and not a lot of time left to do it.

At The Informed Farmer Consultancy, we work closely with rural communities, farmers, and landowners to make sense of these changes — and to find practical ways to adapt, respond and even thrive in the low-carbon future. Whether it's understanding retrofit grants, preparing for renewable energy partnerships, or simply navigating policy, we’re here to help.

Change is coming — and together, we can make sure it works for everyone.

*By Anne Hayden MSc., Founder, The Informed Farmer Consultancy.