Farmers have until 10 January next to have their say on the Department of Agriculture’s climate plan for Irish farming.

It is hosting a public consultation on Ag-Climatise – A Draft National Climate & Air Roadmap for the Agriculture Sector to 2030 and Beyond.

The Department of Agriculture has said that the agricultural sector needs to respond to the Government’s climate action plan and play its part in the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy and society.

Emissions

The all-of-Government climate action plan envisages a 10% to 15% emissions reduction target for agriculture.

This translates into a reduction in emissions from 20.2 Mt CO2eq in 2017 to between 17.5 and 19 Mt CO2eq by 2030.

It also requires agriculture to enhance CO2 removals from the landscape by at least 26.8 Mt CO2eq and contribute to the development of sustainable decarbonised energy systems.

Public consultation

Ag-Climatise is a public consultation document aimed at translating the agriculture sector’s ambitions into more detailed actions and targets for delivery over the coming years.

It details many farmer-related actions that must be taken in order to meet the targets set. These include switching to low-emission slurry spreading for 60% of all slurry by 2022 and 75% by 2025, and many more.

You can read the full document here.

There is also an online survey that takes 35 minutes to complete. You can access the survey here.

Written comments can also be sent by email to Agclimatise@agriculture.gov.ie and also by post to:

Climate & Air Roadmap Consultation,

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine,

Climate Change & Bioenergy Policy Division,

Grattan Business Centre,

Dublin road,

Portlaoise,

Co Laois.

R32 K857

The consultation will end on Friday 10 January 2020 at 12pm.