Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I accept that it is a shift and we need new tools and metrics and ways of managing it. It is something new, but it is not all negative. The fact is that at present LULUCF is generating emissions in the wrong direction - it is 4.8 MTCO2e - but it is also true that it could be a sink. That is not the case with other sectors of the economy. This is a sector of society which can make progress on emissions beyond zero. In other words, it can sequester carbon. At the same time, we can pay farmers to do that. Therefore, it can be a source of income. It can be a source of opportunity. It can be a way for agriculture to become sustainable, not only environmentally but financially. We can pay farmers to sequester carbon and they have that opportunity which is not available in other sectors. We will never have negative emissions from transport, we will never have negative emissions from industry but agriculture will go in that direction.

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