Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Ireland has adopted a whole-of-Government approach to developing climate policy. The Government has engaged in intensive discussions with the European Commission for some time now to highlight the importance of ensuring a coherent approach to the twin challenges of food security and climate change.

As part of our ongoing engagement at EU level, my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Naughten, and I met recently with Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete, the European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, to discuss proposals on the EU’s effort sharing decision and on land use, land-use change, and forestry, LULUCF.

The meeting provided me with an opportunity to restate the commitment of the Irish agriculture sector to improving efficiency and driving down emissions, and to re-emphasise the importance of reflecting the 2014 European Council conclusions in the proposed effort-sharing decision, particularly in terms of their recognition of the low mitigation potential of the sector and their reference to the inclusion of afforestation and LULUCF as part of future climate and energy policy.

Afforestation, the creation of new forests, is included as a specific mitigation measure in paragraph 2.14 of the Council conclusions. This is important for Ireland as afforestation is the main cost-effective land-based climate mitigation tool available to us.  Climate change mitigation by forests, forest fuels and wood products is one of the principal drivers of the policy to expand forest cover out to mid-century.

Annual estimates of the current level of uptake of carbon dioxide by forests are provided by my Department to the Environmental Protection Agency. Projected levels of uptake in forests and storage in solid wood products out to 2020 have been provided to the European Commission under Decision 529/2013 on land use, land-use change and forestry.

We will continue to work closely with the Commission prior to the launch of proposals for an effort-sharing decision, which are expected later this summer. It should also be noted that Ireland is one of a small number of EU countries to have elected to report on cropland and grazing land management activities under the Kyoto Protocol. This would allow Ireland to take advantage of any sequestration benefits that may be allowed in the future from these activities.

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