The Supreme Court’s quashing of the Government’s national climate mitigation plan will not have any major practical implications for Ireland, Climate Change Advisory Council chair John Fitzgerald has told the Irish Farmers Journal.

He said the mitigation plan had been superseded by the Climate Action Plan announced last year, which meets the requirements of the Supreme Court in that it plots a pathway to meeting emissions targets for 2030.

Chief Justice Frank Clarke said several of the proposals for agriculture in the national mitigation plan were “somewhat vague”.

If they change the targets they have to change the policy

“It doesn’t require immediate action by Government, but the Government is likely to enshrine tougher targets for 2030 and will have to enshrine policy to meet those targets. If they change the targets they have to change the policy,” Fitzgerald said.

Increased ambition will require increased action, he added. When asked if this would mean tougher measures on farmers, he said that he doesn’t see a policy which increases farmer incomes, shifts land to alternative uses and is of benefit to the climate as being tough on farmers.