With levels of speculation mounting at the moment that farmers could be faced with a carbon quota in the near future, AgriLand put the question to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed.
Responding to the question, Minister Creed firmly responded that the Government is “not contemplating” a carbon quota at the moment, but added: “What I’m trying to ensure is that our production systems are world leaders.”
He continued: “Some, in terms of their public renounces, would have us believe that you can produce food without producing greenhouse gases. You can’t.
However, we must do it as efficiently as possible. The world has to be fed. The UN has said that we must produce 70% more food on what we did in 2005 if we are to feed the global population of 2050.
“We want to be part of that solution in terms of global food production but we can only be part of it if we are doing it the most efficiently, and that is the challenge we face.”
He noted that the Common Agricultural Policy has focused 40% of its spending in the area of climate mitigation measures.
Concluding, the minister stressed that climate change “is recognised both domestically and at a European level as a really critical issue and every sector must drive down the intensity of their carbon footprint”.