Climate Action - Transport

4.3     Climate Action: Transport

Emissions from Transport covers the combustion of fuel for all transport activity, including domestic aviation, road, railway, water-borne navigation and other transportation (which includes gas pipeline transportation). Domestic aviation emissions are included in the national inventory but make up less than 1% of transport emissions. International aviation and maritime navigation are reported as “memo items” in the national emission inventory. This means they are not counted as part of Ireland’s national total emissions but are reported by Ireland to the UNFCCC and EU for information purposes.

At a national level, Transport accounted for approximately 19% of Ireland’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2019 (11 MtCO2e), with road transport responsible for 94% of those GHG emissions. Addressing transport emissions is an essential element of our transition to a low carbon Sligo.

At a local level, emissions from Transport in County Sligo have been calculated to be 131 ktCO2e, which equates to 14% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the county.

The dominance of private cars as the primary mode of transport in County Sligo is reflected in the results, accounting for 57% of all Transport emissions, while light duty vehicles and heavy duty vehicles & buses combined accounted for 16% and 27% respectively. These emissions are primarily from the burning of diesel and petrol in combustion engines and is also directly responsible for a range of air pollutants that negatively impact both human health and the environment.

The National Climate Action Plan 2023 sets out an ambitious target of 50% reduction in Transport emissions by 2030. This will require a significant change in the way we move around our county.

One of the best ways to plan for reducing emissions from travel is to use the ‘Avoid, Shift, Improve’ (ASI) framework, which is shorthand for

• Avoiding or reducing the need for travel
• Shifting to public transport, walking and cycling and
• Improving the energy efficiency of vehicles we do use.

It is acknowledged that Sligo is a rural county with a dispersed population, which presents additional challenges when adopting this approach but there are significant opportunities for improvement.

Key measures identified in the National Climate Action Plan 2023 to meet our targets include:

• Improving our town, cities, and rural planning, and by adopting the Avoid-Shift-Improve approach.
• Changing the way we use our road space and increasing walking and cycling networks.
• Reducing the total distance driven across all car journeys by 20% and progressing towards 1 in 3 electric private cars.
• Using walking, cycling and public transport to account for 50% of our journeys.
• Providing 70% of people in rural Ireland with buses that cater for at least 3 trips to the nearby town daily by 2030.

There will also be wider benefits to making these changes including in the areas of health, air quality, reduced noise pollution, and improved place-making.

Sligo County Council are already active in reducing transport emissions, such as through the role out of Active Travel Projects, incorporating compact growth and sustainable transport into the planning process, collaborations with public transport and EV charging providers, transitioning and management of our own fleet, and parking and traffic policies.

We are looking for your input into our Local Authority Climate Action Plan to help us shape appropriate actions to further support emissions from transports.