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The progress that Ireland has made in reaching its emission targets is now “bearing fruit”, according to the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue.
He was responding to the Annual Review of the Agriculture and Land use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sector by the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC).
The review made recommendations for the future of the sector and said the Government must urgently complete the land use review and implement policies that align with long-term climate and biodiversity objectives.
Minister McConalogue said the CCAC’s recommendations are aligned to the Department’s policies and strategies.
“What is evident is that this work is bearing fruit with emissions from agriculture trending downwards. Many of the recommendations in the report are already in train.”
Emissions
The report indicated that there should be more incentives to improve the uptake in low-emission fertiliser and feed or slurry additives.
In 2023, agricultural emissions reduced by 4.6% compared to the previous year, which the minister said gives confidence that a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 could be achieved.
He pointed to the provision of around €4.1bn in funding for agri-environmental practices and research under the current Common Agricultural Policy as their commitment to reducing emissions.
Speaking about policy initiatives in place, McConalogue added that the €40m put into kick starting the biomethane sector in Ireland has been a success.
“I can confirm that 23 applications have been submitted to the Biomethane Capital Grant to further this ambition.”
Forestry
Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity, Pippa Hackett has agreed with the CCAC’s review that the Government needs to implement policies that align with long-term climate and biodiversity goals.
On the forestry sector, Minister Hackett believes the ship is starting to turn in the expansion of the forest estate.
“The felling licence backlog is cleared, an almost year-long delay in getting state aid approval from the European Commission has been dealt with and we have put very generous funding in place for farmers to plant trees with a €1.3bn package.”
AgNav
The Department has also committed funding to accelerate the development of AgNav, in collaboration with Teagasc, the Irish Cattle Breeding Association (ICBF) and Bord Bia.
The platform aims to provide a whole farm sustainability assessment to reduce emissions and increase carbon sequestration.
“These inventory refinements have led to adjustments in relation to the emissions related to live weight and average daily weight gain. The revised approach also better tracks the changes in slaughter age that have occurred over the last decade or so,” McConalogue added.
“We have made positive in-roads over the last number of years evidenced by reductions achieved, but we have more to do and the farming community is fully engaged.”
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