Dr. Frank O'Mara:

Teagasc would like to thank the committee for the opportunity to attend to talk about our submission. I will go through my opening statement as quickly as I can.

Food Wise 2025 makes a compelling case for further growth in the agrifood sector but cautions that this growth must take place in a manner that is sustainable in both an economic and environmental sense. It should be noted that climate influences production in agriculture and that the greenhouse gas emissions by agriculture are a contributor to climate change. Climate change will impact on agriculture over the medium term but ongoing intervention to address the greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture is required, not least to ensure that agriculture is not unduly constrained by national level greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in the period 2021 to 2030.

Solutions are required that will limit the greenhouse gas, GHG, emissions from agriculture but at the same time, allow it to grow where feasible by remaining competitive at an EU and global level. We must realise that these are not mutually exclusive and that we can continue to have growth in our food production and tackle emissions from the sector. Given that Ireland has a low level of greenhouse gas emissions per unit of output, that is, a low carbon footprint, there is a need to ensure that climate policy is cognisant of the potential for carbon leakage, which occurs when agricultural products are produced in other countries with high emissions per unit product. Senator Paul Daly mentioned that scenario in the first session of this meeting.

The relatively unique position of Ireland as a major exporter of meat and dairy products - we export about 90% of our butter, beef and dairy products - means that national-level initiatives to curb consumption of meat and dairy products can have little impact on the emissions of our agrifood sector. Therefore, national-level solutions are more likely to come from interventions on the production side, particularly inside the farm gate. Recognising this, over the past 15 years Teagasc has made a substantial commitment in terms of staff and other resources to tackling the issue of GHG emissions at farm level. This commitment encompasses both research on technologies and farm practices to address emissions and knowledge transfer to ensure the effective adoption of these technologies at farm level. All the evidence to date suggests that reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions will be challenging. No single large-scale silver bullet type intervention exists. Therefore, the mitigation of GHG emissions from agriculture will require a wide suite of interventions that can cumulatively deliver a significant level of emissions reduction.

A complication in achieving a reduction in the total GHG emissions generated by agriculture in Ireland is the fact that the total level of agricultural activity is increasing, particularly in the context of the expansion taking place in the dairy sector and the related increase in the cattle population. This means that interventions that reduce emissions per kilogram of milk or per kilogram of beef may be offset to some degree by additional emissions generated due to the overall increase in the amount of product that is produced.

Teagasc has previously identified measures to reduce GHG emissions and has made estimates of the associated cost of each measure and the total amount of greenhouse gas mitigation the measures would deliver. This is called a marginal abatement cost curve, MACC.

We published our first MACC a number of years ago. In light of developments in research, agriculture and policy, there is a periodic need to revise the marginal abatement cost curve to reassess the suite of mitigation options available, including mitigation options not previously considered. We will shortly publish our latest marginal abatement cost curve, which will detail 25 interventions that address agricultural emissions mitigation, land use sequestration and the displacement of fossil fuels emissions via bioenergy production. These are the kind of things discussed by members in the earlier session.

Sustainable consumption is increasingly embedded in the minds of consumers of Irish agrifood products both here and abroad. Origin Green has been discussed. Teagasc will continue to work with the agrifood sector to ensure that it remains at the forefront of progress to address the emissions generated in agrifood production, a key objective in sustainable production. In particular, Teagasc continues to highlight to stakeholders that adherence to more sustainable food production practices can be profit-enhancing for the sector, as well as beneficial to the environment. That is a key point. We must find solutions that work for emissions reduction but do not damage the profitability of the sector, which is low in many commodities.

Recent changes to policy at an EU level now potentially make sequestration by forestry part of the solution to address the emissions generated within agriculture. Heretofore, the sequestration by trees planted by farmers could not be used to offset the emissions generated on the farm. This is no longer the case so the potential now exists to sequester significant amounts of carbon if the rate of afforestation is increased nationally and sustained at a higher level over the next couple of decades. There is, however, considerable opposition to additional forestry in rural communities in some parts of Ireland. These concerns need to be understood and effective communication will be required to illustrate the economic and environmental benefits which increased afforestation would have. There are a number of options for biomaterial and fossil fuels substitution that would offset emissions outside of the farm sector and further incentivisation is required to develop these markets. However, unlike forestry where the benefit of sequestration is included in the agriculture, forestry and other land use sector, it is not clear whether farmers would be credited at a national level for the positive contribution these actions in terms of biomaterials or fossil fuel substitution would make to addressing Ireland's GHG emissions.

Teagasc is also committed to research associated with climate adaptation, that is, changes in agriculture that might be required to cope with the adverse consequences of a changing climate. However, at this time, there are uncertainties with respect to the local level impacts of climate change on agriculture in Ireland, which complicate the provision of accurate advice to farmers in this regard. In particular, it would be unwise to provide advice with respect to climate adaptation which might subsequently require revision as our knowledge of the impact of climate change becomes clearer. Teagasc has highlighted measures that help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, many of which also save farmers money, and there is a need for greater emphasis on the connection between environmental sustainability and profitability at the farm level. There is an urgent need for farmers to continue reducing absolute emissions through the uptake of these measures and through enhancing carbon sequestration through forestry. Knowledge transfer is key to rolling out these mitigation measures, as are national policies to incentivise farmers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.