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Minister of State with special responsibility for research and innovation at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, will today (8 May 2023) announce an increase in funding for climate related agricultural research at the Agricultural Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM4C) Summit taking place in Washington DC.
AIM4C brings together partners to increase and accelerate investment and support for agriculture and food systems innovation for climate action. When joining the initiative Ireland, through the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, committed to increasing investment in climate related agriculture and food systems research by 40% over the period from 2021 to 2025.
At the 2023 Summit, Minister Heydon will commit to further increase the investment by 60%.
In his remarks to the Summit’s Ministerial Meeting, Heydon will announce:
“Our increased ambition will provide for an increase of just under €9.5 million compared to 2020 and it will bring our total investment in climate-related research to over €25 million out to 2025. We need even more science, research, and innovation in our food production systems to ensure not only that we continue to produce food but also that we do so more sustainably.
“Already our investment is yielding tangible tools for farmers and the agri-food sector to reduce emissions. For example, we recently had a major breakthrough in how to select and breed lower methane emitting cattle through a €3 million department funded project called GreenBreed.”
Minister Heydon will also announce Ireland’s intention to join a global initiative to accelerate the development of methane mitigating technologies for livestock systems:
“Our intention is to join the Aim for Climate Innovation Sprint known as the ‘Enteric Fermentation R+D Accelerator’. The focus areas of the Sprint, which include feed additives and genetic tools to reduce methane emissions, are closely aligned with Irelands existing research priorities. We know there is promising technologies in development, we now need to accelerate their deployment across industry and at farm level.”
Minister Heydon will also announce a new Irish Aid – USAID collaboration to advance sustainable food systems in Malawi. Minister Heydon will say:
“Last month Ireland was honoured to welcome home President Biden. In his address, he referred to the US and Ireland’s strong collaboration on food security and child malnutrition. Building on this, I am delighted to announce that with USAID, we will together invest US$75 million in Malawi under an AIM for Climate Innovation Sprint to support the transformation of food systems to become more climate resilient, promote green energy transition and provide more nutritious, safe food, as well as an adequate income for smallholder farmers, especially female farmers. The initiative will also support strengthened food safety and enterprise development, including support for food technology and quality standards through Sustainable Food Systems Ireland, a partnership of Irish Government agencies.”
The Ministerial meeting will be preceded by an address from former US Vice President Al Gore, as well as Tom Vilsack, US Secretary of Agriculture, and Her Excellency Mariam Almheiri, Minister at the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment.
The Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate / AIM4C) is a joint initiative by the United States and the United Arab Emirates. The initiative was established in 2021, being formally launched at COP26 in Glasgow, UK, on 2 November 2021. AIM for Climate is currently supported by over 275 governmental and non-governmental partners, comprising governments, businesses, academia, non-profit foundations and think tanks. Participation is voluntary.
The goal of AIM for Climate is to address climate change and global hunger by uniting participants to significantly increase investment in, and other support for, climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation over five years (2021 – 2025).
With the support of the government and non-government partners, AIM for Climate announced at COP27 a doubling of investment for the period 2021-2025 of more than $8 billion, up from $4 billion at COP26.
Involvement by Ireland in AIM for Climate was announced at the UN Food Systems Summit in 2021, and DAFM formally joined as a Government Partner at its official launch at COP26 in Glasgow.
As part of this, Ireland (through DAFM) committed to increase spending on climate related research by 40% in the period 2021-2025. The commitment by Ireland in 2021 represented an investment increase during the initiative of just under €6.3 million over the 2020 baseline, representing a total investment in climate-related research and innovation of just under €22 million. At this 2023 Summit, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is committing to further increase the initial investment from +40% to +60%, providing an investment increase during the initiative of just under €9.5 million over the 2020 baseline, and a total investment in climate-related research and innovation of over €25 million.
The ‘Innovation sprint’ mechanism under AIM for Climate mobilises private equity from companies and non-governmental foundations, in conjunction with public funding, to areas of innovation that can be completed in an expedited timeframe. There are over 30 Innovation Sprints under AIM for Climate across four focal areas:
The Innovation Sprint the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine intends to join, titled “An Enteric Fermentation R&D Accelerator”, aims to provide a global coordinated research and development initiative over a 5-year period (from 2023-2028). The R&D Accelerator will align and accelerate progress in the development and implementation of methane mitigating technologies for livestock systems in the areas of feed additives to reduce enteric methane, low emitting breeding of animals, and rumen microbiology to reduce emissions. The Sprint aims to mobilise at least $200 million in total for this R&D accelerator, from philanthropy, the private sector and governments.