Green Party Spokesperson for Climate Change, Dr. Cara Augustenborg, has said today that Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveney, is wrong to believe that Irish agriculture can't and shouldn't make any substantial contribution to reduced emissions targets. Augustenborg pointed to a submission which the Green Party made to the Department of the Agriculture's consultation on the potential for greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation within the agriculture and forestry sectors on Monday 23rd March 2015.

 

Augustenborg said: "Minister Coveney is driving us towards a cliff with his wild-west attitude to emissions reductions. The science is clear: Even Teagasc's own submission to the DAFM consultation has stated that post-2020 strategy of further expansion is likely to be based on an increase in dairy cow numbers leading to an absolute increase in national agricultural GHG emissions. Minister Coveney's plans for continued expansion of Irish dairy and beef production cannot be achieved without breaking our legally binding commitments to reduce overall emissions.

 

"Coveney's comment that "nobody in the Irish administration ever suggested that agriculture was going to reduce emissions long term" is a warning to everyone concerned about this issue that the Government are determined to plough ahead, and to hell with the consequences.

 

"For all their talk of fiscal responsibility, the Fine Gael and Labour Government are steering the ship of State recklessly toward the rocks of EU fines for failing to meet our targets. The political decision to cosy up to huge industrial farmers at the expense of a more sustainable agricultural system will end up draining taxpayers money from areas such as health, education and transport, costing the country in the long-term.

 

"Both the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Finance have sounded warnings over these looming financial costs, but as long as the Minister keeps his friends in the IFA happy it seems there is no desire to change course.

 

"The recently launched Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill said everything that needed to be said about this Government's approach to tackling climate change. No targets, no policy proposals, and a timeline for action that lumps responsibility on the next government. We simply can't keep kicking the can down the road - or in this case, throwing more cans in front of us in the form of several hundred thousand extra dairy and beef cows.

 

"The Green Party outlined in its submission to the Department of Agriculture five areas which could be considered in order to reduce emissions from the agriculture and forestry sectors. They were: The need for defined emission reduction metrics; Recognition of the inherent conflict between climate mitigation and adaptation strategies, and the principles of Food Harvest 2020; The need to allow direct comparison with similar agricultural production systems outside of Ireland; More ambitious and immediate development of the forestry sector based on the principle of Sustainable Forest Management (European Commission, 2003);  and the inclusion of additional alternative agricultural approaches known to reduce GHG emissions and environmental impacts.

 

"Coveney argues that Ireland produces beef and dairy more efficiently than other countries but then incorrectly assumes we should therefore be allowed to expand production without limits. However, the science of preventing climate change is based on reducing total global GHG emissions, not about who can increase production more efficiently. In order to stop runaway climate change, every sector in every country must do their part to reduce total GHG emissions. Simply arguing to give one sector in one country a free pass does nothing to solve the global problem of climate change. 

 

"Coveney would be wise to listen more carefully to the science behind submissions from the NGO sector and understand that for Ireland to play its part in the global solution to climate change, agriculture needs to implement methods to reduce total GHG emissions and focus on developing a high-value and sustainable dairy sector, rather than his preferred high-volume, environmentally destructive production methods."