This Saturday, I attended the first regional gathering of the National Dialogue on Climate Action in Athlone, Co Westmeath.

I had registered as soon as it was publicly announced, planning to cover it for the next issue of the Irish Farmers Journal (read more then). I did not realise the organisers working for the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment had me down as a participant. And so I ended up sitting at one of the round tables, joining an exercise reminiscent of the Citizen’s Assembly.

As a French national, I cannot vote in Ireland and I was glad for the opportunity to have a say on the policies of the country I live in. It turned out to be a positive and reassuring experience.

The atmosphere was respectful and collaborative. As one IFA county chair put it at the end of the meeting: “I was in a defensive mood, afraid that we would be under threat. I’m going home happier than when I came.”

There is no point in blaming one or the other

Climate scientist Conor Murphy of Maynooth University set the scene very clearly: the data he showed indicated beyond doubt that climate change is caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases. In Ireland, agriculture is responsible for 33% of these, ahead of any other sector in the economy. Yet “there is no point in blaming one or the other. The solution is to act across all sectors,” he said.

The discussions that ensued reflected just that, focusing on the involvement of communities and citizens in bringing about change. Farming and food were discussed in a balanced way, with participants aware of the need to offer farmers alternatives if the more greenhouse gas-intensive ruminant systems came under pressure. When plant-based proteins and renewable energy came up, so did the opportunity for Irish farmers to produce them.

Listen to IFA environment chair Thomas Cooney at the event:

There were none of the strident comments heard elsewhere, either to deny the reality of man-made climate change, or to blame farmers for it and suggest punitive taxes or quotas. As with other supposedly divisive issues in recent times, it turns out that when you listen to ordinary Irish people rather than a small section of media-savvy commentators, views are a lot more measured and constructive.

The Athlone dialogue comes after a few days that have seen a shift in the public conversation on climate change. On Wednesday, the Government announced a €500m fund to support innovative projects in this area at an event hosted by an unprecedented panel formed by An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and four ministers. They made a commitment that one in five euros spent on public capital investment from now on would go towards addressing climate change.

Spend the money now rather than on fines later

When I asked Minister for Climate Action Denis Naughten this Saturday whether the Government was responding to calls to spend the money now rather than on fines for missing EU climate targets from 2020, his answer was an emphatic: "Yes, this is what we're doing."

On Wednesday, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed said: "While we have been very efficient at decoupling emissions from output, I am very aware that in recent years we have seen an increase in our overall emissions."

Up until this point, his speeches had focused on the fall in emissions from agriculture until 2015 - a real achievement, which has become dated since the abolition of milk quotas. Acknowledging the recent increase in absolute farming emissions as we ramp up production of some of the world's less carbon-intensive milk is essential to position agriculture as a transparent participant in the climate debate.

By the end of this year, we will know the details of Government schemes on heat and electricity generation. This will be the first time since 2015 that anyone with a renewable energy project has clarity on Ireland's policy and the supports available.

Earlier this month, Teagasc published a crucial report detailing the latest knowledge on what Irish farmers can do to tackle climate change, quantifying the expected impact of each change in agricultural or land use practices. Planting more trees to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere dwarfs any other measure, though there is large potential in better soil, fertiliser and livestock management.

These findings do not solve any problems in themselves - they merely point to areas where the hard work will have to be done. They come at a time when the country seems ready to move on from being a rabbit in the headlights of unattainable 2020 EU climate targets and financial penalties, to doing something about it.

Farmers have no choice but to be among those who roll up their sleeves.

Read more

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Carrots and sticks in €500m climate policy acceleration

Climate change challenge to the fore at sustainability dialogue