Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

151. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will advise on his Department's approach to carbon sequestration including guidance to support carbon capture and sequestration by small businesses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3815/24]

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

Carbon removals from the atmosphere will be a critical element of climate action both at the national and international levels. Carbon removals can include both carbon capture through technologies that allow for the long-term geological storage of carbon (Carbon Capture and Storage, or CCS), and carbon sequestration into biomass and soil through land management, or ‘carbon farming’.

The Climate Action Plan recognises the importance of CCS as a developing means of mitigating emissions from hard to abate activities. Several Irish assessment studies on the issue have been conducted in recent years - SEAI, 2008: "Assessment of the Potential for Geological Storage of CO2 for the Island of Ireland", EPA, 2010: "An Assessment of the Potential for Geological Storage of CO2 in the Vicinity of Moneypoint, Co. Clare" and more recently the GSI 2014: “Irish Sea Carbon Capture and Storage Project”. Within the current Climate Action Plan there are actions to be progressed in 2024 to advance the policy position on CCS depending on feasibility assessments.

The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) has features designed to incentivise CCS deployment. According to the directive underpinning the ETS, CO2 that is captured and safely stored is considered as “not emitted”. While introducing removals to an emission trading system poses significant policy and regulatory challenges, the revised EU ETS Directive, published in May 2023, introduces the possibility of paying for carbon removal in future. Article 30 is amended to include a Commission report, and where appropriate, a legislative proposal and impact assessment, to assess how negative emissions resulting from greenhouse gases that are removed from the atmosphere and safely and permanently stored could be accounted for, and how those negative emissions could be covered by emissions trading.

Carbon farming can be a key enabler to deliver net emissions reduction in our agriculture and Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry sectors. Climate Action Plan 2024 commits to the development of a National Carbon Farming Framework by Quarter 2 of 2024. The development of this framework is underway, with substantial stakeholder engagement taking place.

Additionally, I am supportive of the current EU Commission’s proposal for a union certification framework for carbon removals, which is being finalised between the co-legislators. The proposal will create a carbon certification framework, enabling EU certification of carbon removal credits for sale on the voluntary market. This will support the further development of a wide variety of business models to reward carbon removals by farmers, land managers, foresters, and other stakeholders.