While the Climate Bill was published this week, the public consultation on the Climate Action Plan, where measures to reach the bill’s goals will be decided, was launched.

At its launch this week, it was made clear that the bill is a framework and how the targets set out in the bill will be met are yet to be decided.

The Climate Action Plan consultation is where the public will have its say and the agricultural sector has a lot of work to do in this consultation.

As a sector sequestering carbon there will be huge opportunities to push for investment in technology to measure the carbon storage of our soils, hedgerows, woodlands and habitats.

Biogenic methane has been recognised as behaving differently to other greenhouse gases and the implementation of the GWP metric (a metric which takes account of methane’s lasting effect in the atmosphere) will no doubt be top of the agenda of some farm organisations.

The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications called on “climate scientists, experts and industry to share their data-based technical proposals to support development of the plan”.

Farmers can have their say in the public consultation online or by emailing ClimateConversation@decc.gov.ie

The consultation opened on 23 March and will close on 18 May at 5pm.