The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill will be amended to recognise where carbon is removed or stored in agriculture. Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan agreed to the changes in the Seanad last week following two amendments put forward by Fine Gael senator Tim Lombard and Fianna Fáil senator Paul Daly.

It is expected that the amended bill will be approved by the Dáil ahead of the summer recess. While the intention of the amendments was clear, the Irish Farmers Journal understands that the outcome has been to create further confusion around a bill that was already criticised for being ambiguous and lacking in detail.

As Catriona Morrissey reports in this week's edition, the last-minute amendments have caused consternation among Government officials and no doubt within the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC). It stems from a lack of clarity/agreement on how a “recognition” that agriculture can remove and store carbon will translate into “credits” when setting sectoral targets.

There are differing views. Some believe carbon removals, which are derived solely from the agriculture sector, should be taken away from national emissions instead of being ring-fenced when setting emissions targets for agriculture. At the same time, they believe carbon emissions from drained peatlands should be included in the calculation of agriculture emissions. This accountancy method referred to as “gross net” would position Irish soils as a carbon source rather than sink.

We only have to look to the renewable sector to see the impact on farmers of allowing poor policy go unchallenged

Such a move would see farmers fail to secure any credit for the deployment of land use mitigation measures which enhance carbon removals from the atmosphere, such as afforestation, re-wetting bogs, straw incorporation, establishment of cover crops and, in time, sequestration within grasslands.

Teagasc has calculated these land management or land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) measures could remove 2.97Mt CO2e per annum from 2021-2030. While under current flexibilities, LULUCF offsets are capped at 26.8Mt CO2e over the 10-year period, their contribution would still yield a 13-14% reduction in agricultural emissions.

Farmers cannot afford to allow existing and future carbon credits flow outside of the sector. If logic and fairness were to be applied, the agricultural sector would be able to fully offset carbon storage and sequestration credits against sectoral emission reduction targets. These targets would be based on “net net” accountancy methodology that recognises Irish soils as a carbon sink and are in line with EU commitments.

However, in delivering this we should not underestimate the lack of understanding and/or hostility towards the agriculture sector by many of those within the CCAC and further afield. Nor should we ignore the comments made by Minister Ryan when he warned that allowing for removals does not reduce the need for agriculture to play its part in reducing emissions.

Laser-like focus

While the amendments to the bill are a positive step, the battle is far from over. A laser-like focus must be kept on the models used by the CCAC while ensuring that in the setting of targets by Government, full credit for LULUCF offsets and future carbon credits relating to sequestration in soils are ring-fenced for agriculture.

We only have to look to the renewable sector to see the impact on farmers of allowing poor policy go unchallenged at the early stages.

For many European farmers, opportunities in the renewables sector are the norm. In fact, such opportunities are now considered a right. In Ireland, farmers have not been given that same right. While we do have a number of renewable schemes in place, none provide a means to earn a living while decarbonising the sector.

For example, Ireland’s flagship Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) is proving to be a resounding success for the country. The taxpayer-backed scheme is responsible for placing large volumes of renewable electricity on to the market while allowing semi-state bodies such as Coillte and Bord na Mona to reinvent their business models. However, farm-scale projects are all but omitted and realistically farmers’ roles have been confined to supplying the land for large wind and solar developments.

But as Stephen Robb highlights in our Focus this week, there is some scope for optimism. The Micro-generation Support Scheme (MSS) is soon to be launched and it will pay farmers for the excess renewable electricity they produce. There are also expectations that a renewable obligation scheme for heat will be introduced in the near future, which may finally kick-start a meaningful anaerobic digestion (AD) industry.

There will certainly be opportunities for co-operative style AD plants, where groups of farmers own and supply feedstock. It is a complex model but is feasible and positions farmers as part of the climate solution.

This week's cartoon

\ Jim Cogan