Farmers will be key allies in achieving Climate Action targets – Fine Gael Senators

The farming community in Ireland stand to be the most impacted by but will be the most impactful on the outcomes of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill working its way through the Dáil and Seanad, Fine Gael Senators have said.

Fine Gael Senators, alongside Fianna Fail, proposed an amendment to the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021 in the Seanad yesterday morning to ensure carbon removals or sequestrations are explicitly stated in the context of carbon budgets as Ireland aims to become carbon neutral by 2050.

On behalf of the Fine Gael Senators, Leader of the Seanad Regina Doherty said “The importance of removals warrants their inclusion in the bill to be explicitly stated as opposed to implicitly implied, as was the case until yesterday morning.

“Farmers know the land and the climate more than anyone else, they see the changes first-hand and know how important taking action will be. In fact, this isn’t something that will happen in the future, it’s something that is already happening now and has been for years.

“Due to the nature of the change’s farmers make, and often the difficulty in measuring the impacts, farmers haven’t received the recognition for their efforts that they should have. One of our biggest weapons to ensure climate neutrality by 2050 will be carbon sequestration or removals, and that will only happen with the support of our farmers.”

Fine Gael’s Seanad Spokesperson on Agriculture, Food, Forestry & Marine Tim Lombard said: “Yesterday afternoon I proposed the amendment to the Climate Action Bill so that we give due recognition for carbon sequestration.

“This is a game-changer for the agricultural community, it gives recognition for their ability to remove or capture carbon into our soils, our bogs and our hedgerows when it comes to the carbon budgets for agriculture.

“I am delighted that Minister Ryan has accepted the amendment to the climate bill that will allow recognition for carbon removals as part of sectoral targets and carbon budgets”, concluded Senator Lombard.