Mr. Bill Callanan:

We have a very open approach to this. As I set out in my opening statement, it is very much a nascent discussion. Internationally, there has been ongoing discussion around the idea of carbon trading, but there is a recognition that there is an amount of work to be done in terms of how that would be structured, how the baseline will be created and how improvements can be validated. I will give an example of the challenge inherent in this. Typically, dry mineral soil might have 200 tonnes of carbon stored in it and the farmer is potentially changing that by less than half a tonne per year or thereabouts. We are talking about a 0.25% change and the question is around how that is measured. I assure the Deputy that we are very open on this and we are at an early stage of discussion in terms of carbon trading. We are considering and reflecting on all of this and taking everything on board.

Exploring a soil carbon bank has been suggested in America, but that comes with challenges regarding permanence. For example, if people build carbon into the soil they own and are rewarded for it, and then they turn around and plough that land for a few years and start losing it, what responsibility flows from that? New Zealand is considering a similar proposal. The question there has been if carbon is to be valued, then how can those farmers reducing carbon be rewarded and those increasing it be charged. That is the trajectory in New Zealand. We are very much at an open stage in considering this issue.