Press release
Minister McConalogue welcomes EU recognition of carbon emissions reductions from land
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Published on
Last updated on
At the Agri-Fish Council this week, Ministers were briefed on the state of play of the Regulation on Certification of Carbon Removals.
Minister McConalogue spoke in support of the proposal on the Carbon Removal Framework:
“I welcome the compromise text proposal which now includes practices or processes that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from soils and not just removals. This has been one of my key demands over the course of these negotiations, and while I am disappointed that reductions of livestock emissions are not included in the union certification framework, this is a welcome improvement from the original proposals.”
Minister McConalogue commented:
“Farmers are constantly being asked to deliver more and it is our responsibility as governments to ensure that they can access income streams from any evolution of their enterprises. Farmers want to make their farms work for not only the planet but for their families and this means that they need to be able to earn an income from those enterprises. Carbon farming is one such opportunity.”
McConalogue concluded saying:
“I recently launched a public consultation to guide the development of a national carbon farming framework for Ireland as I am acutely aware that a credible framework is a necessary first step in supporting farmers to generate an income from removing and storing carbon in soils, forests, grasslands, croplands and hedgerows.”
The consultation is still open: gov.ie - Carbon Farming Framework for Ireland (www.gov.ie).
The Climate Action Plan 2023 (CAP23), launched in December 2022, is the second annual update to Ireland’s Climate Action Plan 2019.
This plan is the first to be prepared under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021, and following the introduction of economy-wide carbon budgets and sectoral emissions ceilings.
Implementation of the Climate Action Plan will create jobs, new economic opportunities and protect people and the planet.