In July, the European Commission announced that Ireland must cut emissions by 30% between now and 2030. With the debate raging on how Ireland and agriculture will adapt to these changes, we asked two differing voices to outline their stance

Thomas Cooney Environmental chair with the IFA

Farming is playing its part

The European Commission announced greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets to be achieved by 2030 for the sector of which agriculture is a part. When all elements are considered, these targets are challenging, yet balanced.

They are challenging, given that the science tells us that the agriculture sector can only reduce emissions by a further 8% before affecting food production. In addition the Environmental Protection Agency has clearly stated that delivery of the earlier 2020 target will be extremely difficult.

The targets are balanced because they reflect the fact that previous targets were scientifically and technically unachievable for agriculture, without cutting the national herd or reducing agriculture’s output.

To reduce production from Ireland, a global leader in emission-efficient food production, would be wrong and unacceptable, for farming, our wider rural economy and also for the environment. After all, such a policy would actually increase global GHG emissions, with carbon-efficient food produced by farmers in Ireland being displaced by less sustainable food produced on deforested Amazonian lands.

The 2030 outcome was achieved because of the unique combination of high-level lobbying of Government by the IFA, a capable civil service and solid scientific research, mainly from Teagasc. The understanding of our European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan and MEPs was also extremely important.

The outcome also reaffirms the earlier position adopted by European heads of government in October 2014 when they said that member states when deciding on sectoral plans must have regard for the multiple roles of agriculture, as food, fuel and energy producers, when addressing the climate challenge. Twelve months later in Paris, international leaders met and agreed that food production must not be threatened when addressing the climate challenge also.

The understanding of the many responsibilities of farming, is important but does not provide room for complacency. Agriculture has an important role to play – while respecting the need to safeguard food production.

Farming is committed to addressing the climate challenge, with over 87% of the measures adopted by farmers in our Rural Development Programme having climate reducing elements. For example, over the next five years GLAS will deliver over 50,000t of carbon savings annually from the crop cover requirement, 10,000t of carbon savings each year from the minimum tillage option and 5,000t of carbon saving from the new hedgerows planted. The IFA will continue to make the strongest case possible to Minister Creed to re-open GLAS to the maximum number of applicants.

Ireland is also the only country in the world that monitors, measures and manages carbon from farm to fork.

Ninety per cent of beef exports are now in an audit and carbon foot printing programme, 100% of milk production is entering into a carbon auditing cycle. In addition, more than 100,000 carbon assessments have been completed on farms to date as part of Bord Bia’s Origin Green programme. The Smart Farming initiative led by the IFA seeks to address the dual challenges of improving farm incomes while reducing environmental impact.

However, sustainability is not just about the environment. It’s also economic and social sustainability for farming and wider rural communities.

The new markets created and the ones maintained by farmers participating in the Origin Green programme must start delivering a sustainable economic return for farm families.

Eamon Ryan TD Green Party leader

We are delaying the inevitable

The big, developed countries such as France, Germany and the UK have committed to around a 40% reduction in their transport, farming, small business and domestic emissions. The eastern European countries are set to make cuts of between 10% and 20%, while Ireland was in the mid-range for ambition, with an obligation of a 30% cut from our 2005 baseline.

The process was all the more complicated because each country was also given specific room for manoeuvre in how they could use two flexibility mechanisms as an alternative to making real cuts.

The first mechanism will allow countries buy their way out of their obligations by purchasing and then cancelling carbon credits from the emissions trading scheme that applies to the large industrial and energy sectors. The second allows countries account for carbon storage gains that may come from an increase in forestry or other land use changes. The science behind this is still uncertain and the environmental community is up in arms because any gains from restoring boglands are not going to be part of the deal.

Political capital

It is in the application of these two flexibility mechanisms that the Irish Government has got a special arrangement. For the last five years we have used all our political capital in Brussels to demand easier terms when it comes to climate change. The Commission has bended to that campaign by effectively allowing us use the two flexibility mechanisms so that we face no real increase above our 2020 target.

The champagne corks must have been popping in Government buildings when the Commission press release came out. However, just as quickly as the fizz started to settle in those glasses there may have been a dawning realisation of the massive challenge we still face.

Firstly, we will be one of perhaps only two countries which is not now going to meet those 2020 targets. We are currently less than halfway there and transport and agriculture emissions are projected to rise rather than fall over the next four years.

Secondly, we have only postponed the changes rather than avoiding them altogether. The climate agreement we signed in Paris last December commits us to playing our part in averting dangerous climate change. That means delivering an 80% cut in these emissions by 2050 at the latest. By delaying the inevitable, we are only going to make things more difficult and expensive for ourselves.

We risk missing out on the real benefits that will arise for those countries who show leadership and act early on the issue.

Sustainability

The research from Teagasc is clear – improving the environmental sustainability of farming is directly connected to increasing profitability for the farmer.

We are branding our food as being Origin Green so we have to make sure we live up to this in reality. Irish farmers more than anyone else know what it takes to look after our land and they more than anyone else will want to be on the right side of history on this issue.

Maybe now that the whole debate about ‘how much’ a change we need to make is over, we can get down and join in a ‘how to’ debate around making it happen. We might surprise ourselves about how much we have in common.

Our Green Party door is open to the farming community. In fact we are heading out of it and making straight to the farm gate to listen and learn how we might work together to protect our common home.