New Climate Report Must Be Supported By Implementation – IFA

IFA Environment Chairman Thomas Cooney has welcomed the climate report published by the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee and called for its proposals regarding farm-scale renewables and supports for improving on-farm efficiencies to be urgently implemented.

Thomas Cooney said, “This report and the recently published climate abatement report by Teagasc, have identified the necessary actions. It is now time for Government action.”

Earlier this year IFA addressed the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee and had a number of key climate proposals, including:

• The announcement of a biomass development programme, which would displace electricity generated from peat and coal
• The re-opening of the Green Low Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS)
• The announcement of a zero carbon electricity tariff for community based, roof-top and micro-energy renewable projects. This should be used over time to displace electricity production from gas.
• The scaling up of on-farm emission reduction programmes identified in the National Mitigation Plan, such as Smart Farming, Origin Green and the Carbon Navigator.
• A full review by the Department of Agriculture’s Forest Services division of the new forestry programme and a commitment to remove barriers, as planting is down 14% year on year.

Thomas Cooney said, “It is good to see some of these proposals contained in the Committee’s report, however the Committee must now move to the development of a time bound implementation plan, which will deliver these measures and make a difference to the environmental and economic sustainability of farms in Ireland.”

Thomas Cooney has also welcomed the Committee’s view that an incentivised approach to delivering climate objectives rather than increasing taxation should be pursued.