Farming organisations are encouraging farmers to attend one of the upcoming public consultations on Northern Ireland’s future carbon budget.
The first of these will be held in Derry tomorrow Thursday, August 31.
It will be followed by an event in Belfast on Tuesday September 5. The final consultation will be hosted online on Thursday, September 7.
All the events will be hosted by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).
A spokesperson for Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) said that it is in farmers’ interests to both attend and express their views on the issue of future carbon budgets at these events.
The union is also expecting to attend a specific briefing with DAERA, where carbon budgets are concerned, over the coming weeks.
“There will be one joint sector meeting for agriculture plus Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry [LULUCF] stakeholders,” a spokesperson for the UFU said.
“The union will be invited to this meeting.”
William Taylor of Farmers for Action (FFA) confirmed that his organisation will be actively participating in the public consultation.
“Agriculture is more than capable of meeting its climate change commitments. But farmers must get paid adequately for the food they produce,” he said.
Taylor highlighted the role for FFA’s proposed Farm Welfare Bill in this context.
If legislated for, the measure envisages farmers being paid a price that takes full account of all input costs plus an agreed margin to deliver ongoing sustainability at farm level.
All the main food commodities produced in Northern Ireland would be covered in the scope of the legislation that is finally enacted.
FFA envisages the cost of these measures being met by food retailers – not a government body.
“The legislation would also serve to keep out imports of beef from countries such as Australia and Brazil,” Taylor commented.
“From a climate change perspective alone, it makes no sense to import food that is already in abundance locally from half way around the world.
“At the end of the day accelerated climate change comes back to the issue of burning fossil fuels. The continuing wildfires in countries around the world represent a wake-up call for society as a whole, where this critically important issue is concerned.
“A 75% reduction in the usage of fossil fuels would get us to where we need to be in terms of greenhouse gas emission targets,” he concluded.