The carbon sequestration target for the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sector will be “extremely challenging” for Ireland, the chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC), Marie Donnelly has said.
We have a situation where emissions are coming from Irish grasslands and peatlands, and despite forests absorbing some of those, the net result for the sector is positive, she said.
A positive figure recorded for the sector, which can function as a sink for emissions, means that soils, trees, plants, biomass, and timber emit more carbon dioxide (CO2) than they remove from the atmosphere.
All sectors have to be considered for the role they can play in climate action and how best they can be developed in a sustainable way for the benefit of society, Donnelly said at a webinar on forestry and climate.
While the goal to limit global warming to 1.5°C was reiterated at COP27 and Ireland is working towards a 51% emissions reduction by 2030, a sectoral target for the LULUCF sector has not yet been set.
LULUCF carbon removal
A significant emissions reduction target is currently being discussed at EU level, Donnelly said. For the period from 2026 to 2030, where removals should exceed emissions, each member state will have a binding national target for 2030.
After 2030, the objective to reach climate neutrality by 2035 in the combined LULUCF and agriculture sector (AFOLU) will be aimed at EU level, the European Commission said.
Commenting on the “very difficult” position Ireland will be placed in going forward under this combined sector from 2030, Donnelly said:
“That places us in a quite sensitive position where agriculture is about 33% of our emissions, and currently our land is emitting [too]. It is bad enough when they are separate, but when you put them together it becomes very difficult.”
Therefore, she said policies need to be reconsidered and the concerns of those who we are relying on for new forestry plantings need to be addressed, as well as timber management.
Afforestation numbers are still far from the targets set out by the government, she said adding that forestry policy and supports for public and private planting across appropriate lands need to be revisited.
Forestry and climate change
While forestry in Ireland is a combination of public and publicly owned land through Coillte, and privately owned land, high levels of private forestry have diminished over the years, she said.
The level of private planting needs to rise again, Donnelly said adding that this would probably be done through smaller parcels throughout the land in the correct locations.
Discussing the role forestry and timber can play in meeting Ireland’s climate ambitions, the director of Forest Industries Ireland (FII), Mark McAuley said forestry and timber make up a very significant part in the battle against climate change.
The construction sector is currently a major source of emissions, however, by using timber, buildings can, alongside trees, continue to store carbon, Donnelly and McAuley both agreed.
Urging the government to look back at building regulations that constrain how much can be constructed with wood, and to set up a technical working group, he said:
“The government can act as a catalyst by looking at a build-with-wood-first policy, as it has happened in Paris which has now committed to build 50% of its new buildings with wood.”
A new Climate Action Plan 2023 is expected to be published in the next couple of weeks, Donnelly explained, calling for time-bound actions that can be delivered now.
“We need results in the next three years. We cannot continue a situation where we are still looking at studies thinking about things. We are past that time, now is the time for action,” she said.