The sooner the Government agrees defined sectoral targets, the better. The political fudge of broad “target ranges” has caused a nearly a year of paralysis, as we argue about the narrower targets instead of being fully focused on solutions.

And whenever they are finally agreed, farming and farmers will be instrumental in the delivery of almost all other sectoral targets.

For instance, the solution for the transport sector is to pivot to electric vehicles from petrol and diesel engines. However, those electric cars will be charged from the national grid.

We are still largely reliant on fossil fuels for electricity generation. In fact, if it wasn’t for the wind turbines and solar panels on Irish farmland, you might as well plug your electric car into a diesel generator as a chargepoint.

While offshore wind and solar roof panels will play their part in reducing our fossil fuel dependency, it’s fair to say that the Government and society are largely reliant on farmers to invest in renewables to meet our energy and transport sectoral targets.

And farmers are more than willing to do so. There are hundreds of applications for large-scale solar farms sitting in limbo for years now, waiting for an effective planning process.

Bad planning sullied the name of windfarms in some parts of the country. That cannot be repeated, but the clock is ticking and the Government needs to stop talking and start doing.

I have no idea how the building sector is going to reach its target. I suspect it doesn’t either.

That said, sustainable building materials are sure to form a large part of the equation. Step forward the farmers, whether it’s timber, hemp or wool for insulation.

Industry has been handed a daunting sectoral target, but it seems the use of offsets will allow it to, in part, buy its way out of trouble. And these offsets will be gained by buying carbon credits from farmers or developed by farmers, and planting forestry on farmers’ land.

That leaves the land use, land use change,and forestry sector – LULUCF. I’m hazarding a wild guess that the Government won’t be looking to NASA or NATO to address this sectoral target. It will be landowners. That means you, dear reader. The emissions reduction target range there, 37% to 58%, is on the high side. But no-one is talking about the fact that farmers are tasked with solving the emissions from two sectors.

So the next time you hear someone pontificating on the airwaves or in the pub about how farmers are climate laggards, use this little reference guide to set them straight.