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Climate Change, Bioenergy & Biodiversity
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
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The Department will lead the sector in confronting the climate change challenge and in doing so; will continue to develop a vibrant, sustainable, agri-food sector, while continuing to play its part in reducing Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions. It will also play a part in seeking a global solution that ensures world production of sufficient food to meet the needs of a growing population and that agriculture plays its part mitigating climate change.
In this regard the Department sees Ireland's participation in international research initiatives such as the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the EU wide Joint Programming Initiative on Food Security, Agriculture and Climate Change and the Global Alliance on Climate Smart Agriculture along with continued funding of agricultural research in Ireland as very important in ensuring the sector contributes to climate change ambitions and ensuring that food production is not threatened.
The global community faces a future in which we need to balance the need to increase food and fibre production, with helping farmers, foresters, fishermen and society generally to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, build resilience and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
This roadmap has been developed by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) on foot of extensive engagement with industry, research, policy, farmer and environmental stakeholders. It is a roadmap designed to help all stakeholders to work together to tackle climate change and air pollution, by clearly explaining what we need to do and when we need to do it. By collectively pooling expertise and energy we can determine how best to do it, ensuring our sector remains at the forefront of globally sustainable food production systems.
In addition to making these documents available on the website, due to current working arrangements they will be made available for inspection on request at the Department’s offices during office hours
Bioenergy is energy generated from renewable biomass and it covers a wide range of materials and processes. Potential agriculture bioenergy sources include purpose grown energy crops such as willow, forest thinning, waste material and timber by-products for biomass. Liquid biofuels and biogas can substitute for conventional transport fuels, while solid biomass and biogas can be used for heat/electricity generation as well as transport. It should be noted that electricity generation from bioenergy resources offers the additional advantage of being dispatchable i.e. it is available on demand and not variable. Material such as animal by products and food waste, as well as municipal waste, have a value in being processed through, for example, anaerobic digestion, to produce biogas.
Under the Renewable Energy Directive (also a component of the EU Climate and Energy Package 2008), Ireland is required to achieve 16% of its total final energy consumption from renewable energy sources by 2020. The 16% target is broken down by category as follows:
| Energy category | % of TFC* | ||
| Electricity | 40% | ||
| Heat | 12% | ||
| Transport | 10% |
- TFC is Total Final Consumption
Responsibility for ensuring that these targets are met is a matter for the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE) in the first instance. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine supports the development of the bioenergy sector, as agriculture and forest are the main source of material for bioenergy.
Officials from DAFM have contributed to the development of the Draft Bioenergy Plan which was published by the then Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in October 2014. The draft Plan sets out the broader context for the development of Ireland’s bioenergy sector, and the current status with regard to the range of policy areas that must be coordinated in order to create the conditions necessary to support the development of this sector.
A Bioenergy Steering Group has been established in order to oversee the finalisation and implementation of the Bioenergy Plan, including the formulation of a Strategic Environmental Assessment and Appropriate Assessment.
DAFM continues to work with DCCAE on the development of policies and measures related to increasing the supply of biomass for energy from our agriculture and forest sector.
Ireland’s first Statutory National Adaptation Framework (NAF) was published in 2018 and sets out the national strategy to reduce the vulnerability of the country to the negative effects of climate change and to avail of any positive impacts. Twelve key sectors were required to prepare sectoral adaptation plans under the NAF. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is responsible for three of these sectors – Agriculture, Forest and Seafood.
The Agriculture, Forest and Seafood Climate Change Sectoral Adaptation Plan was published in 2019.
The overarching objectives of the Plan are to:
• Ensure a joined-up approach to adaptation planning in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
• Raise awareness of the impacts of climate change in the agriculture, forest and seafood sector
• Reduce vulnerability of the agriculture, forest and seafood sector to main climate impacts and seek to increase resilience
• Embed adaptation planning in agriculture, forest and seafood sectoral policies
The agri-food sector will be one of the sectors most impacted by the changing climate while also playing a vital role in the fight against climate change. Our most recent climate projections found that specifically in relation to agriculture, increases in temperature, heatwaves, heavy precipitation and dry periods/droughts along with decreases in frost and ice days will have direct and substantial effects on agriculture in Ireland by the middle of the century. Our systems must, therefore, be future proofed to reduce any associated threats and build resilient food systems inclusive of mitigation and adaptation
Agriculture, Forest and Seafood Climate Change Sectoral Adaptation Plan
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Agriculture, Forest and Seafood Climate Change Sectoral Adaptation Plan Background Document (updated March 2022)
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Impact and Vulnerabilities Assessment Review (December 2021)
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A National Mitigation Plan (NMP) is a requirement of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015. The agriculture and forest sector measures have been submitted for inclusion in the NMP.
The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment published a draft plan in March 2017 – see link below:
There has been a high level of cooperation between this Department and the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment in relation to the development of the NMP. Department officials have actively participated on a range of inter-departmental groups.
In relation to the development of our sectoral measures we have consulted widely including through public consultation and open policy debate on the potential for greenhouse gas mitigation within the sector. We have also consulted with the relevant bodies under the aegis of the Department.
See below a link to the - Public Consultation on a discussion document on the potential for Greenhouse Gas (GHG) mitigation within the Agriculture and Forestry Sector:
ESC Environmental Monitoring – ESC Report to the 2030 Agri-Food Strategy Group
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The Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine and EIT Climate-KIC have partnered to respond to the need for further climate action for the land-agri-food sector. This partnership focuses on systems innovation, with the aim to generate options and pathways for transformations for the land-agri-food sector. The specific focus of the work is to move away from individual, incremental research, demonstration, and innovation projects, and instead create and implement a coordinated set of innovation actions, which aims to deliver wide-ranging positive change.
• The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, and Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, with responsibility for Research and Development, announced a €2 million International Strategic Partnership with EIT Climate KIC to support national climate action in Agriculture in March 2022.
• Funded by the EU’s European Institute of Technology (EIT) and the European Commission, EIT Climate KIC is Europe’s leading innovation community working to support the delivery of a climate resilient economy and society. EIT Climate KIC is partnering with public and private stakeholders in the Irish agri-food sector, led by the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine *(through its Climate & Research Divisions)* , to combine Climate KICs international expertise on climate innovation with local knowledge and organisation to support the agri-food sector in mitigating and adapting to climate change.