Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. It is useful to briefly reflect on the fact these statements are taking place while COP27 is ongoing in Egypt. Sustainable and nature-focused forestry is essential to both climate action and biodiversity. In that global context, I welcome that President-elect Lula of Brazil is committed to the protection of the Amazon rainforest and I also welcome the fact that the world's three biggest rainforest nations, Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have formally launched a climate partnership to work together on conservation.Countries in the global north, including Ireland, must do everything we can to support the protection of our rainforests and ensure there is an end to multinational companies actively destroying nature and biodiversity. I am not sure if the Minister of State heard the speech made by the President of Colombia at the UN. It was one of the most powerful speeches I have ever heard on the Amazon and climate. If she has not heard it, I recommend that she listen to it as it was impressive.

To return to Ireland, in its annual review for 2022, the Climate Change Advisory Council, CCAC, stated that Ireland is not achieving its national ambition for afforestation. We need to be clear that forestry is currently a net emitter of greenhouse gases in Ireland, not a carbon sink. This is according to the FRL 2021-2015 report from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine titled, Ireland: National Forestry Accounting Plan. The report concludes with the extremely worrying information that Ireland's forest estate transitioned from a carbon sink capturing CO2 to a source of CO2 during the 2012 to 2017 period and that there are indications of likely increases in greenhouse gas emissions from 420 gigatonnes in 2018 to 2,161 gigatonnes CO2-equivalent by 2025.

On the accounting and budgetary framework we use for forestry, there is a concern that carbon sequestration potential for forestry is not being accurately portrayed. We need to be honest about the fact that trees when planted take between 20 and 30 years to sequester significant amounts of carbon. If a whole area is then subsequently clear-felled, this releases a huge amount of carbon from the soil. This needs to be reflected in our accounting frameworks and from a scientific point of view, we need to ensure that forward-counting or double-counting is not part of our forestry accounting frameworks.

With regard to our wider forestry policy, we do not have a model in Ireland which supports biodiversity or climate action. For example, we still have one of the highest rates of plantation forestry in the EU and the highest share of forest area comprised of invasive species, particularly Sitka spruce which makes up over half of our forest estate. In investigations conducted in 2020, Noteworthy documented many of the issues with our forestry system. For example, between 2010 and 2020, only three environmental impact assessments were carried out in respect of 17,000 afforestation licence applications received by the forest service and that licences for plantations continued to be approved on, or near, peat soils and other high nature value areas.

On the issues of planting on peatlands, we need to wake up to the scientific evidence. Experts, including from An Taisce, have repeatedly warned that planting on peatlands has a huge impact on drainage and the water quality of our rivers. There are examples of cases where afforestation licences have been granted for planting peatlands which have direct hydrological connections to special areas of conservation, SACs, such as the River Moy SAC. Currently, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine allows planting on peatland of a depth of less than 50 cm. Peatlands are the largest natural land-based carbon store. The area covered by near natural peatland worldwide, which is greater than 3 million square kilometres, sequesters 0.37 gigatonnes of CO2 a year and stores more carbon than all other vegetation types in the world combined. Peatlands are essential to our survival as a species and for the planet as we know it. It is dangerous when they are damaged. Emissions from drained peatlands are estimated at 1.9 gigatonnes of CO2 annually, the equivalent of 5% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. This is a disproportionate amount considering damaged peatlands cover just 0.3% of land-mass.

I will ask a series of questions at this point. How does the Government plan to reverse the trend by which Ireland is becoming a net emitter on forestry? On accounting, will the Minister of State commit to no forward- or double-counting and a scientific-based approach? Will the Department pursue a policy of the right tree in the right place, as described in the CCAC's technical note on the carbon budgets, including ensuring appropriate prioritisation is given to native tree species and appropriate species diversity? Will the Department institute a policy of refusing licences on any form of peatlands, including bogs that have been degraded, given the potential for rewetting?

I will conclude by addressing our national history. Ireland was once covered in forests and native tree species such as birch, oak and elm. We then had periods of fast deforestation over centuries. Today, we need a forestry model that is sustainable and protects our planet. We need to move away from the current model. I urge the Minister of State to seriously reflect on the questions I have asked.