Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The first all-of-Government Climate Action Plan 2019 established sectoral emissions reduction targets for the first time. The target for agriculture was to reduce emissions by 10% to 15% by 2030. The climate action plan 2021 is currently being developed. This plan is seen as the key mechanism to deliver on the programme for Government commitment of a 51% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions economy-wide by 2030.

All sectors will need to contribute to this step-up of ambition, including agriculture. The climate action plan is scheduled to be finalised in the coming weeks and preparations are running in parallel with the Climate Change Advisory Council deliberations on carbon budgets.

Annual revisions to the climate action plan will focus on the near and medium-term perspectives, be consistent with the adopted carbon budget programme and provide a roadmap of actions, including sectoral actions that are needed to comply with the carbon budgets and sectoral emission ceilings. To bridge the gap between the Climate Action Plan 2019 and the new climate action plan 2021, the Interim Climate Actions 2021 was prepared following a consultation process across Government Departments and bodies. This was published in February 2021 with over a total of 250 measures, of which 50 are led by the Department and its agencies.

The funding of the 2021 climate action plan will be determined based on the final agreement on the targets for the agriculture sector. It is clear that the targets will be challenging on the sector and that a multifaceted approach will be required.

For my part, I secured additional funding of €79 million in the 2021 budget to support agriculture. I also maintained supports to the sector under the rural development programme continuing all the schemes in the transitional period in 2021. This is the first time that multi-annual contracts for GLAS and organics were continued in the transitional period.

In addition, the CAP strategic plan funding will be aligned to support the achievement of the targets.

It is clear, however, that the CAP funding alone would not necessarily be sufficient to address the level of transformation we require.

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