Dr. Eamon Haughey:

Sure. There are a few points to be made. I will roll back a wee bit to the 1.5°C report that came out last year. It set the scene for the urgency required and the transformation we need of global energy and land systems. To put this in context, the report considered what the land sector could contribute globally. As for limiting warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, we need an increase in forestation of 3.4 million sq. km. That is more than the size of India. That gives just an idea of the transformative action we need by 2050 to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. That is just to put it in context with forestry. It is important.

What we have seen in the Amazon is very shocking and sad and is obviously undoing much of the good work being done globally. It also highlights one of the dangers associated with both increased levels of warming and the limitations of natural solutions. As the temperature increases, this assessment shows that risk of wildfires, for example, will increase. If we go to 2°C above pre-industrial levels, the risk will increase. If we go to 3°C, it will increase even more. Those carbon stores in forests will then be more vulnerable. The other side of it is management. One can store carbon in forests, but that is potentially vulnerable to future mismanagement, so there is always that risk that the good work can be undone.

Bringing it back to Ireland, there is another question over the level of afforestation. I will not go into that as it is not my area, but it is worth noting that we have a massive amount of carbon stored in our peatlands. In a way, they are our equivalent of the Amazon rainforests. That is a crude comparison but it is one that can be made. How we manage this is something we can act on now in the context of conservation and possibly restoration of some of those lands.