Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As highlighted previously, the Climate Action Plan 2021 sets very ambitious and challenging targets for the agriculture and land use sector in reducing emissions as a key contribution to the overall economy-wide 51% target by 2030. My policy approach to achieving our climate targets in the agriculture, land use and forestry sectors centres on four different drivers of change.

The first driver is through public supports and incentives including the new Common Agricultural Policy strategic plan for 2023-2027, which contains a range of new measures to drive behavioural change at farm level, for example, through strengthened conditionality; a new eco-scheme; an ambitious new Pillar 2 environmental scheme; and a significantly enhanced organic farming scheme, underpinned by extensive training of farmers and advisers and a fivefold increase in funding for organic farming.

The second driver is through regulation and focusing on reducing nitrogen allowances, the mandatory use of low emission manure technology and the use of nitrogen-fixing clover. The third driver is through market and private industry incentives, where industry will play a significant role in driving on farm change. The fourth driver for this change will be through new technologies, innovation and diversification opportunities that can deliver significant emissions reductions.

Industry incentives will also be needed to ensure they are fully adopted at farm level.

This includes innovations such as feed additives, income diversification into areas such as anaerobic digestion and the development of carbon farming models. As I have repeatedly indicated, and as is acknowledged in the Climate Action Plan 2021, a whole-of-government, whole-of-industry approach will be needed to achieve our overall climate objectives as the CAP strategic plan alone will not be able to deliver on all the changes required. By working together, I am confident in the sector's ability to achieve its climate targets without compromising food production. We are a sustainable food producing nation and we want to ensure the work we are doing does not compromise our status. Our farm families are already sustainable and we must work to future-proof the sector for the next generation and beyond.

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