Ryanair's Carbon Emissions Rise 2% to 12.3 Million Tonnes in 2025

Ryanair's greenhouse gas emissions increased to 12.3 million tonnes (mt) in 2025, a 2 percent rise from 2024. This marks a two-thirds increase in carbon emissions over the past decade, despite a fall in per-passenger emissions due to doubled passenger numbers. The airline's overall emissions are moving in the wrong direction, contrasting with reductions from most other large Irish emitters.

These figures are from the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), which monitors major carbon polluters. Ryanair received 2.1 mt worth of allowances last year, significantly exceeding its allocation. Steven Fitzgerald, Ryanair's director of sustainability, stated the company will spend €1.4 to €1.5 billion next year to comply with ETS and a separate EU scheme requiring the incorporation of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). CEO Michael O’Leary has criticized the ETS as «stupid» and «mad» because it only applies to intra-European flights.

Ryanair aims to reduce per-passenger carbon intensity through modern aircraft and efficient fuel practices, but Fitzgerald acknowledged that the airline's growth will outpace emissions intensity reductions. Meanwhile, Aer Lingus's intra-European flight emissions rose 2.4 percent to 0.77mt. Ireland's second-largest emitter, ESB, reduced its emissions by 2 percent to just over 2.09mt, largely due to the closure of the Moneypoint coal station. Irish Cement's combined emissions fell 3.7 percent to over 1.25mt, and Aughinish Alumina's emissions decreased by over 1.5 percent to 1.1mt. Overall, 117 large Irish industrial and power plants reported a combined emissions fall of 5.5 percent, below the EU average of 6.9 percent. Ireland's total emissions in 2024 were 57.65mt.