Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

54. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the steps he is taking to reduce the amount of palm oil consumed in Ireland in view of the negative social and environmental impacts of palm cultivation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8589/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Biofuel production and its use is an area, that unless properly regulated, may not deliver required greenhouse gas savings and could impact negatively on food production and land use. It is important, therefore, that measures are in place to mitigate against environmental risks, such as Indirect Land-Use Change (ILUC), of certain categories of biofuels.

Directive (EU) 2018/2001 (the recast Renewable Energy Directive or RED II), which was formally adopted in December 2018, sets out rules for renewable fuels from food and feed crops, including the phasing out of ’high indirect land-use change-risk’ renewable fuels by 2030. This Directive is to be transposed into Irish law by end of June this year.

Following on from its report on the status of production expansion of relevant food and feed crops worldwide, the European Commission has set out the criteria for determining high ILUC-risk feedstocks in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/807. Under the delegated regulation, palm oil is currently the only one that meets the criteria as a high risk feedstock (though other feedstocks may be added in future). However, in certain circumstances (e.g. where additionality can be demonstrated), quantities of palm oil could be certified as low ILUC risk.

Under RED II, Member States will be not be allowed to count any energy from renewable fuels with a high ILUC risk towards their renewable energy targets in any year from 2021 onwards, over and above the amount of energy achieved from these fuels in 2019. In addition, Member States must, from 2023 onwards, gradually reduce this limit to 0% by 2030. It should be noted that the quantities of biofuels from palm oil used in Ireland are very small with just 2 million litres placed on the Irish road transport market in 2019.

In September 2019, a public consultation was launched on the development of the Biofuels Obligation Scheme in the period from 2021 to 2030. This consultation closed in November 2019 and 42 responses were received. I, as Minister for Transport, expect to publish shortly a policy statement which will set out my plans for biofuels and other renewable transport fuels for the coming years, which will include measures for the treatment of high ILUC risk biofuels.