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Ireland’s Long Run Social Development and VulnerabilityFIGURE 2.5Eco-Efficiency in Ireland 1990 - 2000Source: EPA; Environment in Focus 2002: Key Environmental Indicators forIreland; EPA 2002In comparative terms, Ireland would appear to be considerablybehind other EU member states when considering key environmentalindicators. The Kyoto Protocol of 1997 set a target for anaggregate 8 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in theEU over 1990 levels which was to be achieved by 2008 - 2012.Under the system of burden-sharing agreed by EU member states,Ireland was set a target of 13 per cent. The National ClimateChange Strategy of 2000 sets out a range of measures to achievereductions in greenhouse gas emissions in all sectors to meetIreland’s Kyoto target. Key cross-sectoral measures includetaxation, negotiated agreements, and the flexible Kyotomechanisms of emissions trading, Joint Implementation and CleanDevelopment.However, as indicated above, this target had already been breachedwith a figure of 23.7 per cent in 2000, due to the rapid economicgrowth of the previous decade. This is projected to rise to 37 percent by 2010 in the absence of corrective measures. Figure 2.6below shows that of the 15 member states surveyed, Ireland had the91