Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to participate in today's debate on climate change in agriculture. I apologise that I cannot stay until the end, but I will be following the debate.

We are at a pivotal moment when it comes to tackling climate change. The window for action is closing by the day. The future generations are watching us now. They will look back in despair at the last decade, about not only how we wasted those years to take climate action, but also about how we had a Fine Gael Government for the last ten years that played a negative role in international climate change negotiations. Then, domestically, it took policy decisions that have made the mountain we must now climb on climate action even more onerous.

The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 was passed last year. I welcome that it was passed with the support of the vast majority of Members of both Houses. There was a small minority of Deputies who did not support that Bill. The Act has finally set in place a framework for us as a country to bind this Government and future Governments, whoever they might be, to a trajectory of emissions reductions.

The carbon budgets are still to be brought to the Dáil and the Seanad. They will set out the pathway for how we will reach those reductions across all sectors. That includes agriculture. The trajectory of those emissions cuts will be challenging for all sectors. Last week, the climate action committee heard from various stakeholders. These were stakeholders that represent business interests, the trade unions, Social Justice Ireland, as well as stakeholders that represent the Irish Farmers Association, IFA. They were there to present.

There was an acceptance from most of the sectors that the days of shirking responsibilities in climate action are over. We all accept that fairness and social justice have to be at the heart of climate action, not just because it is the right thing to do - because it is - but also because we have to bring communities along with us on this process. That means that no sector can get a bye-ball. Special treatment for one sector inevitably means that somebody else in society has to take up the slack. It is time now for leaders in all areas of society to show the leadership that the public is crying out for, to engage with the stakeholders and with the industries they represent and to be honest about the scale of the challenge we face as a society. That said, sometimes we have a tendency, particularly people like me who have followed climate action for so many years and who have studied it, to get so frustrated and have anxiety about the lack of action that is being taken. However, climate action also presents us with huge opportunities. This is an opportunity to fundamentally change how we organise society and how we organise the economy.

The same goes for how we produce our food, how we value how that food is produced, how we use our land and how we value the land that produces that food. Take, for example, organic farming. For years, organic farming has been neglected by Government policy in this country, and it shows. We are at the bottom of the EU table. I think Malta is the only country that is lower than us in how much agricultural land we have dedicated to organic farming. Our figure is 2%. The EU average is 8.5%, but we are on 2%.

There has been a lack of ambition. In fact, there was a point at which one could not even enter the system. If one wanted to be an organic farmer, the system was closed to one. We now have a target of 7.5% by 2030. That will not even bring us up to the EU average today. Meanwhile, the EU is storming ahead and setting targets of 25% by 2030. For so long, we have heard that Irish agriculture thrives on a sustainable green reputation, but there is a lack of support for organics. That undermines that reputation, but it also does nothing to support farmers who want to go into organics. Sinn Féin is proposing an additional €15 million for organics in 2022 alone. I do not think there is any reason we should be waiting for the new CAP to begin properly funding a conversion so that farmers can convert to organics. We can learn from our EU counterparts. There is a reason countries are storming ahead when it comes to this issue. Denmark, for example, mandated supermarkets to stock organic produce. They created the market for farmers.They told farmers to go organic and they guaranteed them there would be a market for their produce in the supermarkets. Sinn Féin would like to see Teagasc and Bord Bia resourced with ring-fenced funding to promote organics and give farmers the confidence that there will be a market for their produce.

I understand, coming from a privileged position in a well-paid job, that this is not practical for everyone but I would also encourage members of the public, where they can, to buy from the wonderful farms out there, including in Dublin, that are bypassing supermarkets and the large meat processors and selling their products directly. This ensures the farmer gets the maximum value for the produce he or she produces and it also ensures that the food chain is shortened, the quality of food is better and the life span of the food is increased. This in turn reduces food waste, which is another high source of greenhouse gas emissions.

I would like to discuss forestry. We know that trees sequester oxygen from our carbon dioxide from the time they are planted but most of the net carbon sequestration is in the period after when they are about ten years old. If we are planting trees today then most of that carbon sequestration will be post-2030. The failure in afforestation today not only affects our ability to meet our 2030 targets but it also has implications for our future 2050 targets. Each year we are missing out on millions of tonnes of carbon sequestration. Last year we planted 2,000 ha when we need to plant 15,000 ha of new forests each year to get to net zero by 2050.

A lot needs to be done to turn the ship around when it comes to forestry but the first action has to be to resolve the issue with the system itself. We need to establish a system that is fit for purpose, well-resourced, screens out the bad planning applications, is compliant with the Aarhus Convention and does not block people out from making objections. We must screen out the bad applications, make it Aarhus compliant and have a statutory period in which a decision is provided to applicants. We also need to protect the native woodlands we already have. We have fragments of oceanic temperate rainforest that need to be given the space to do their thing and expand. National parks are under threat and we all watched in horror last year at what was going on in Killarney National Park. The research suggests that the older woodlands slowed down that fire. I am hoping that the review of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, will give the service the resources to go after anybody who is caught illegally burning or cutting hedgerows and to make sure those people face the full rigours of the law.

I want to quickly look at the international food system and what Ireland needs to do. I know that Ireland has recognised the principle of agroecology and its role in building sustainable food systems. That needs to be backed up with action so I would like to see Ireland increase the proportion of overseas development aid spent on agriculture and food systems that are targeted at scaling up agroecology initiatives. I would also call for the State to ratify the Nagoya protocol on access and benefit sharing, which allows traditional knowledge and ensures a trade policy is fair, inclusive and does not facilitate the oligarchic market control by agribusiness and the privatisation of biodiversity.

I call on the Irish Government to support a binding UN treaty on business and human rights to regulate the activities of transnational corporations, allowing communities, particularly indigenous communities in the global south, to have their human rights upheld.