Irish Agriculture & Climate Change Policy : The story so far

Transcription

1 Irish Agriculture & Climate Change Policy : The story so far JOHN MULDOWNEY AGRICULTURAL INSPECTOR CLIMATE CHANGE DIVISION DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND THE MARINE GRA Workshop, Warsaw 8 th April 2014

2 Overview of Irish Agriculture and Land use Agricultural land 4.2m ha Grassland (90%) 3.8m ha mainly permanent with long growing season in temperate climate Crops (10%) 0.42m ha Forestry 0.75m ha Livestock 6.7 million cattle (export 90% of beef & 80% of Dairy) 5.1 million sheep 1.6 million pigs Agri food in the Economy 7.7% GVA 7.9% of total employment 10.6% of exports ( 10bn, 1/6 of world baby formula)

3 Ireland is a country well suited to sustainability. Our climate is temperate; our lush, green countryside is perfect for farming; ours seas are teeming with fish. Our beef industry, is the largest net exporter in the northern hemisphere, Ireland is also a world leader in baby formula (1/6 th of world production). And with our rainfall, in a world facing water shortages, and agriculture requiring 70% of freshwater supplies for irrigation, our water stress index, unsurprisingly is one of the lowest in the world.

4 Breakdown of GHG Emissions in Irish Agriculture

5 Food Harvest 2020 SMART Embracing innovation Embracing new technology Improving cost competitiveness GREEN Clearly demonstrating and capitalising on Ireland s green credentials GROWTH Efficient production Environmentally sustainable production

6 Sustainability of Irish Agriculture Among the most efficient in the EU on a unit of production basis Lowest carbon footprint for milk, pork and poultry products 5 th for Irish beef below the EU average

7 Important Issues Agriculture and Climate Change Over 30% of national GHG emissions are from agriculture EU target of 80% reductions in EU emissions by 2050 Ambition to increase agriculture production while militating GHG emissions Adaption challenges EU is approx. 9% Very difficult with high livestock emissions FH2020, and feeding a bigger world population Pests, diseases and possible water shortages

8 Irish Ag GHG emissions versus total cattle numbers ( ) 23,000 22,000 21,000 Agriculture GHG total cattle numbers ('000) Ag GHG emissions 20,000 19,000 18,000 17, Total Cattle No. '000 16, Year 5200

9 Successes to date Improved grassland and manure management Development of renewable energy resources Participation in agrienvironment schemes Supports for afforestation Increased awareness among farmers and industry

10 Challenges A lot of GHG mitigation already in place (future reductions will be more difficult) Variable weather conditions could make grassland management more challenging Increasing Ag production while reducing national Ag emissions will be difficult A measure to mitigate GHG emissions may have potentially negative impacts on other issues. Some possible novel technologies (DCD) may not be acceptable to the markets

11 Policy issues GHG emissions National level Climate Bill sectoral roadmap, Expert advisory group NCCAF integrate with sectoral roadmap EU LULUCF decision Cropland and Grassland activities Communication on a 2030 Climate and energy framework International On SBSTA agenda but progress on agriculture is slow Relationship to other policies Nitrates and NEC directive

12 Environmental analysis of FH2020 Farrelly Consultants engaged from April 2012 Completed Findings Need for monitoring and reporting High level of implementation of current legis & directives required Adoption of best practice recommended But how? What is best practice high technology! Upskilling of advisors and farmers Need for further research

13 CAP Reform The challenges: Fit for purpose Coherent with Europe 2020 strategy for recovery and growth Supports the twin goals of competitiveness and sustainability

14 Research and Knowledge Transfer Active member of the Global Research Alliance (GRA) Supporting several FAO initiatives on agriculture and Climate change Food waste Partnership on Benchmarking and Monitoring the Environmental Performance of Livestock Supply Chains Department of Agriculture and EPA research agenda and expenditure on climate change projects Several Industry initiatives on reducing the carbon footprint of Irish products Origin Green operated by Bord bia at industry level Carbon navigator collaboration between Teagasc & Bord bia Voluntary Initiative launched 2012 Carbon Measurement Aim 75% of Irish Food and Drink Exports by end 2014.

15 Role of GRA GHG from Agric in Ireland: trend towards ~32% Link between climate change and agriculture Targets impacting food production capacity Impacts of climate change on production capacity? Analysis showed poor scientific understanding Of actual emissions: uncertainties in inventories Of measuring emissions and mitigation Of technologies and approaches to mitigate emissions Of climate change impacts and how to deal with them Importance of potential mitigation in agriculture 1.1 Mt through technical improvements (teagasc analysis) 6.5 Mt CO2 eq nationally by 2020 in soils However method of accounting

16 Benefits of the GRA the costs and options of reducing greenhouse gas emissions; the implications of targets which exceed sector capacity the actions being taken to reduce emissions in the sector; the evidence that these actions are effective; the need for a deep analysis before policy decisions are made Improve understanding of the link between adaptation and mitigation and other environmental synergies Foster research to help deliver more food without growing green gas emissions Allow communication between agricultural and environment ministers on climate issues International Collaboration & cooperation in research efforts

17 Conclusions The aim of our Department : Contain emissions Utilising existing best practice Developing high efficiency farm practices/ models Further utilise our unique grass based productions systems Sustainable production Support knowledge transfer to farmers Continue to assess and review how to produce food more sustainably Ensure that sustainable food production is supported FH2020 targets Avail of opportunities in the RDP and NAP to ensure that all funded measures are complementary to reducing GHG emissions

18 Concluding remarks Ireland is an efficient producer of food Produces food to feed over 30 million people Agriculture emissions steadily declining since 1990 Ambitions to increase outputs (Food Harvest 2020) Limited emission reduction potential due to high efficiencies currently being achieved Ireland to the fore in the International climate process GRA; UNFCCC; EU; FAO etc

19 THANK YOU JOHN MULDOWNEY CLIMATE CHANGE AND BIOENERGY POLICY DIVISION