IFA Environment Chairman Thomas Cooney has said that Teagasc’s climate marginal abatement curve published 250 days ago, needs to be acted upon by the Government and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action as a matter of urgency.
In June of last year, Teagasc published a scientific report which identifies the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by some nine megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. This is almost half of all the emissions attributed to agriculture and can be delivered by changes in agricultural practice, land-use changes and fossil fuel displacement in the sector.
Thomas Cooney said, “Instead of more carbon taxes and quotas on sustainable grass-based food produced in Ireland we should follow the science set out by Teagasc. There is a real danger that some other knee-jerk measures could add further costs to the sector and impact on jobs. They may also increase global greenhouse gas emissions, as carbon efficient food produced in Ireland will be replaced by food produced on deforested lands in Amazonian regions including Brazil.”
“Agriculture is one of the few sectors that has an emissions reduction strategy, which can make a difference for the environment, diversification of farm incomes and support rural regeneration. It’s time Government backed the Teagasc climate plan and moved to put appropriate conditions in place to make it happen,” he said.