Is farming carrying the climate can for others?

The effective downgrading of agriculture at the recent National Economic Dialogue is a worrying and disappointing development.

This year’s event marked the first time that there was not a dedicated breakout group for farming and the food sector.

Instead, agriculture’s role in the economy was assessed through the lens of Ireland’s climate challenge.

Indeed, the title of the breakout session involving farming, which was chaired by Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien, said it all: ‘Decarbonisation, Energy, Agriculture and Sustainability: Transitioning to a Lower Carbon Economy’.

Nobody denies the environmental challenges relating to farming, but is the emphasis on agriculture being overplayed to hide the sins of others?

There is very little talk of the environmental impact of the tech sector for example.

And, yet, its electricity-devouring and water-guzzling data centres are blowing the country’s energy requirements into orbit, and putting the water-supply network under serious pressure in the process.

More worrying still, the unfettered expansion of data centres threatens to foist multi-billion-euro fines on Ireland’s taxpayers when the country fails to meet its internationally agreed emissions targets.

Given this very likely and very costly scenario, should the session at last week’s National Economic Dialogue have focused on the tech sector rather than agriculture?

It would have been very interesting to hear Minister O’Brien’s contribution had the session title read - ‘Decarbonisation, Energy, the Tech Sector and Sustainability: Transitioning to a Lower Carbon Economy’.

Irish Government will hammer farmers all day, but they’re a lot more reticent to talk or act when it comes to tackling big tech.