The sectoral targets for cutting emissions under the carbon budgets will be announced in the very near future and, in the agriculture sector specifically, sectoral stakeholders are getting increasingly anxious over the scale of reductions that will be required.
The agricultural sector will have to cut its emissions by between 22% and 30% by 2030 under the Climate Action Plan. A specific figure within that range will have to be set.
Since that range was confirmed late last year, farm organisations have stressed that the final target figure should be towards the lower end of that spectrum.
If the target is set at or close to 30%, they argue, it would have a detrimental impact of farmer incomes, the rural economy and food production.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie has, on several occasions, stated that he aims to retain Ireland’s current level of food output while also meeting sectoral targets.
Speaking to Agriland this week, the minister reiterated that view, despite the increasing pressure coming on agriculture from environmental and climate action groups to set the maximum level of emissions reduction.
In the video below, the minister addresses this issue, as well as the new Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES):
“The key objective I have is to back farm families to continue to produce food, but really importantly, alongside that, to reduce our emissions footprint, and that’s the challenge here,” the minister said after the announcement of ACRES this week.
He added: “No one has come to me looking for us to reduce, or saying to me minister, you should reduce the amount of food Ireland produces. There’s an increased understanding now, particularly in the context of the invasion of Ukraine, of the importance of food security.
“We’re very blessed in this country in relation to the natural advantages we have…and the capacity to have grass-based livestock and milk production for example.”
“That’s something we want to continue but, like across every other aspect of life and society, we have to minimise the emissions footprint for that,” Minister McConalogue commented.
In terms of the engagement he has had with cabinet on the matter, he said his objective was to ensure that “we have a target that is deliverable and which maximises the contribution we make, but in a way that actually allows us to continue to produce the food that we do”.
It is understood that the sectoral targets for each sector will be set by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, which Minister Eamon Ryan will then submit to cabinet. It is expected that this will be done before the end of the summer.