This document discusses Ireland's green economy from an environmental economics perspective. It examines Ireland's priorities around issues like water quality and pollution reduction. It also analyzes Ireland's role in climate change mitigation through decarbonizing sectors like agriculture and shifting to services. The author argues that environmental policy should aim to meet objectives at minimum cost and that uncompetitive policies may do more harm than good by killing jobs. Credible, coordinated global solutions are needed to address climate change.

1. The Green Economy:
An Irish Perspective
John FitzGerald
The Economic and Social research Institute
www.esri.ie

2. Introduction
 Environmental economics research
 EPA supported
 Irish environmental priorities
 Water, Other Pollutants, etc.
 Climate Change
 Decarbonising? Agriculture?
 Green Economy
 Value for money

3. Water
 Priorities since 1990?
 Urban waste water directive etc.
 Delivering a clean supply of water efficiently
 Water utility – to cut costs
 Water utility – to deliver investment
 Water utility – to improve state’s balance sheet
 Water utility – to manage funding

4. Environmental Priorities
 Many objectives
 Managing priorities
 Sustainable living
 Commuting and spatial patterns
 STRIVE research
 Sulphur dioxide etc.
 A success
 Health implications?

5. Commuting
Household Car
Emissions CO2
Source: Census -
POWCARS
Car CO2 0.09 - 0.12
Commuting 0.13 - 0.42
0.00 - 0.05 0.43 - 13.87
0.06 - 0.08
ESRI: ISUS model

6. SO2 emissions, historical and projected
200 200
Residential
180 180
Transport
Services
160 160 Construction
Fuel, power, water
140 140 Other manufacturing
Tranport equipment
120 120 Electrical goods
Office equipment
000 t SO2
Machinery
100 100
Metal production
Mineral production
80 80 Rubber & plastic
Chemicals
60 60 Pulp & paper
Target Wood
40 40 Textiles
Food
Mining
20 20
Agriculture
0 0
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030
ESRI: ISUS model

7. Climate Change
 Europe is burdened by debt
 Successful policy needs competitive solutions
 Uncertainty for investors if policy not credible
 Problems with uncoordinated national policies
 Global solutions needed
 Ireland decarbonising by shift to services in output
 Ireland decarbonising by importing dirty
consumption
 Problem of agriculture

8. Low carbon in what sense?
Attribution of CO2 emissions by demand, plus imports
80
Imports
Inventories
70 Investment
Government
60 Charity
Households
50 Exports
40
mln tCO2
30
20
10
0
-10
1990 1995 2000 2005
-20
8
Source: ESRI/EPA ISus model; Hertwich & Peters, 2009 (43) Env Sci Tech.

9. CH4 2009
CH4 0.06 - 0.08
2009 0.09 - 0.10
0.00 0.11 - 0.13
0.01 - 0.05 0.14 - 0.90
ESRI: ISUS model

10. Green Jobs?
 Environmental policy: how to meet our
environmental objectives at minimum cost
 Energy policy is about ensuring secure and
sustainable energy supply at minimum cost
 If it produces jobs, so much the better
 Paying too high a price for energy / environment
will kill many more jobs than it creates
 Problem – jobs killed by uncompetitive policy not
so visible

11. Environmental Policy
 Get Prices right
 E.g. Sustainable living
 Regulation
 E.g. Pollution of rivers
 Technical change needed
 R&D Incentivised by prices.
 Credibility of policy – ETS: uncertain price & windfall gains
 Non-ETS
 EU uses A model to allocate burden
 If wrong: Potential huge costs and transfers
 Major Problem for Ireland AND EU - agriculture