The Government remains deadlocked on a sectoral target for emissions reductions from agriculture. Despite days of intensive talks, a compromise figure could not be reached.

Eamon Ryan, Minister for Energy, Climate and Communications, wants a target closer to the 30% upper limit of the range in order to achieve national emissions reduction targets, while Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue is seeking a lower target, viewed as being more achievable.

Outside Government, the debate has steadily ratcheted up, with rural backbench TDs from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael threatening to withdraw their support if a high target is imposed on agriculture.

Meanwhile, numerous news and current affairs programme on television and radio featured debates between climate activists and farmer representatives or politicians.

Ireland has signed up to this reduction as a binding commitment under the Paris Agreement

Having already missed the deadline of announcing the target before the Dáil summer recess, this was the final chance for the Cabinet to approve these sectoral targets before the end of July.

One last chance awaits, with a final Cabinet meeting scheduled for two weeks’ time. Failing that, farmers will still be waiting for a sectoral target as the harvest is being wrapped up in early September.

The debate around exactly where a specific sectoral target would land began last October, the day after the Government announced broad bands for carbon reduction as “landing zones” for six sectors of the economy.

Farming organisations immediately said that 22%, the minimum target at the lower end of the range, was the absolute maximum farming could be tasked with achieving.

Meanwhile, Minister Ryan said that all sectors would have to strive for the upper end of their range of the national target if a 51% reduction was to be reached.

Ireland has signed up to this reduction as a binding commitment under the Paris Agreement.

What it means for farming

The year 2018 was the base year chosen for the Climate Action Plan. The total emissions from farming that year were 23mt (megatonnes) CO2. The 2030 target will be between 18mt, a 22% reduction, and 16mt, a 30% reduction.Teagasc estimates that a reduction of about 4.14t (18%) can be achieved using the MACC, exploiting all currently available technologies.

To reach past that, a reduction in livestock numbers seems the only option on the table, unless further technologies quickly become available.

Meanwhile, Green Party chair Senator Pauline O’Reilly warned that too low a sectoral target could endanger her party’s participation in Government.

“Every option is on the table” she said. Asked on RTÉ’s Today show what would happen if 22% or 23% was agreed, she said: “I don’t think that the Green Party can put up with that kind of low figure [...] the lower end is not acceptable.”