INPACT: Investigating National Policy Impacts on Atmospheric Climate Targets Back to Main dashboard

Ireland Greenhouse Gas Policy Impact Explorer

Explore greenhouse gas emissions, atmospheric pollutants, climate policies and policy effectiveness across Ireland.

Funded by Funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Ireland Climate Policy Timeline Greenhouse-gas mitigation policies in force 2000–2023

All policies / Cross-sectoral / CAPMF_ACT_2021

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021

Framework applying across all sectors, using a framework mechanism; in force since 2021.

Cross-sectoral Framework Framework Source: OECD only OECD match: Partial Selected as: OECD anchor
2021–start year; still open
1.00policy intensity in 2023
1.00peak intensity, 2000–2023
–no reported saving for this row

About this policy

Amended the 2015 Act to put Ireland on a legally binding path to climate neutrality by 2050 and a 51% cut by 2030 (from 2018). It introduced five-year carbon budgets, sectoral emissions ceilings and annual Climate Action Plans.

Key milestones

  1. 2021Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act enacted (23 July).

Contextual milestones compiled from official sources. They are not used in the index.

About this type of instrument: framework legislation and climate governance

Climate policy requires commitments that outlast electoral cycles. Framework laws address this time-inconsistency problem by making targets statutory, creating recurring planning obligations and assigning accountability. Independent advisory bodies reduce information asymmetries between government and parliament.

Strengths
  • Raises the credibility and predictability of long-term policy
  • Coordinates action across sectors and departments
  • Creates regular accountability through reporting and review
Limitations
  • Acts indirectly, through the instruments it mandates
  • Effects are difficult to attribute separately from those instruments
  • Targets can be missed without automatic corrective measures

Measurement in this dataset. Framework rows form layer L1 and are assigned to the cross-sectoral category. Implementation is proxied by OECD governance indicators (climate advisory body, net-zero target status). Several frameworks share the same indicator, so they are contextual and must never be added to instrument rows.

Read the full guide to framework instruments

Year by year

Filled markers use a matched OECD score; hollow markers use assumed timing. Shaded bands show the policy's status. Select a year on the chart or the slider to see how its intensity is built up.

Data-quality notes

Methodological notes recorded for this series, grouped by theme.

Aggregation warnings

  • Framework row: contextual, and never added to instrument rows.
  • Should not be interpreted as a separate causal effect.

Scoring conventions

  • The unweighted equal-weight index remains positive before the policy starts; use the gated version for timing analysis.
  • Bindingness is a normative score from the study rubric, not a measure of observed compliance.
  • Coverage is an ordinal scope score, not a measured share of activity or emissions.

Timing assumptions

  • The policy has no reported end date; its status after the reporting date is reconstructed as continuing.

Selection context

  • Policies were selected using recent (2024–2030) assessments, which can introduce retrospective selection bias.

OECD match quality

  • Shares an OECD governance indicator with other framework rows.

Sources

  1. OECD. Climate Actions and Policies Measurement Framework (CAPMF) database, Ireland, 1990–2023. https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ag]=OECD.ENV.EPI&df[id]=DSD_CAPMF@DF_CAPMF (accessed 25 September 2026)
  2. Irish Statute Book. Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021. https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2021/act/32/enacted/en/html (accessed 25 September 2026)