The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has said that “many challenges and uncertainty” remains around carbon farming.
The minister said that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is continuing to work on baseline data, along with certification processes.
The comments followed a parliamentary question from Independent TD Marian Harkin who asked the minister what plans were in place in relation to carbon credits valuation certificates for farmers.
Carbon farming
Last November, the European Commission published a proposal on the “certification of carbon removals to boost removal technologies and sustainable farming solutions”.
The proposal also set out new rules for the independent verification of carbon removals and for certification schemes.
The EU has said that carbon farming practices can sustainably enhance the storage of carbon in soils and forests or reduce its release from soils, and create a “new business model for farmers and foresters”.
The latest carbon certification proposal underpin the European Green Deal which is the EU’s long-term strategy to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050.
The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) previously described the proposal as “very disappointing and more likely to be a white elephant than a future cash cow”.
In his response to Deputy Harkin, Minister Charlie McConlogue said the proposal sent a clear signal to EU member states on “the need to increase the ambition and participation of our land manager in the area of carbon removal and reductions”.
He said that establishing national baseline data for a range of activity will be key to developing a carbon sequestration reward model.
He said funding has been provided for the establishment of the National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory, the pilot Soil Sampling Programme and the Farm Environmental Scheme, along with a range of research projects on peat soils.
“These national research and demonstration activities will have key learnings for future policy in this area while also leading to a refinement of data to the National Inventory Reporting framework for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.”
The minister said that the Woodland Environment Fund also provides “a pre-existing model for targeted payments to land managers for their positive environmental activities”.
“It is important to note that many challenges and uncertainty still remains around carbon farming including baseline data, quantification and verification of emission reductions as well as certification processes and my department continues to work in this area,” McConalogue said.