Carbon sequestration targets under a spotlight in Northern Ireland
Sinn Féin's Declan McAleer has criticised the response from Northern Ireland's agriculture minister to a question on carbon sequestration.
The matter had been raised by the vice chair of Northern Ireland's Agriculture, Environment and Rural affairs (AERA) committee as an Assembly matter in order to gauge the impact of environmental stewardship at farm level.
According to McAleer, the answer received from Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Andrew Muir "failed" to set out how farmers will be recognised for the carbon sequestration and wider environmental benefits they already deliver through their land management practices.
McAleer explained: ''Farmers deserve clear answers on how their long-standing environmental work - including maintaining hedgerows, planting trees, protecting permanent grassland and other carbon sequestration measures that capture and store carbon on farms - will be recognised.
"The minister's response raises more questions than it answers."
The AERA committee vice-chair added that rather than detailing how farmers will be credited for existing carbon sequestration measures, the minister's answer "focuses on data collection, carbon measurement, and the possibility of future market opportunities".
''Farmers across the north have already invested time, effort and resources in maintaining hedgerows, planting trees and delivering environmental benefits.”
According to the Sinn Féin politician, farmers have a right to know whether these actions will be recognised and rewarded.
McAleer said that while the minister has outlined how sequestration might be measured, he has "not explained what, if any, credit farmers will receive for it".
He called on the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to provide a "clear pathway" showing how existing carbon sequestration will be accounted for and how farmers "will benefit from the value they are creating".
“Without that clarity, farmers are being asked to participate in a carbon footprint project that measures their contribution without explaining how that contribution will be recognised.
''Until that clarity is provided, farmers will remain concerned that their environmental contribution is being recorded but not properly rewarded."
Areas of Natural Constraint
Meanwhile, the AERA committee member continues to seek support across all the political parties for his Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) Private Members’ Bill.
The proposed legislation recently passed its second reading at the Northern Ireland Assembly
It sets out to re-instate ANC payments for farmers in Northern Ireland, which were discontinued back in 2018.
The AERA Committee will take evidence from stakeholders regarding the detail of the bill during the early autumn period.
