High pressure in air as farm groups lobby against Climate Change Bill

NEXT week’s Climate Change Bill is coming under pressure from all sides in advance of being put to a second stage vote in the Seanad next Thursday.

Farm groups IFA, ICOS, ICMSA and MII have all written to TDs and senators asking them to oppose the bill on the basis that the proposed clampdown on carbon emissions goes beyond EU requirements, adding unnecessary costs that would hamper the export ambitions of the food sector.

Stop Climate Chaos, the coalition of Irish civil society groups lobbying to halt climate change, is also opposed to the bill in its current format, but because it believes that if it were passed the legislation would not go far enough to halt climate change.

Gavin Harte of Stop Climate Chaos said: “The bill has been diluted by opposition within government and by special interests.

While we welcome the bill, the legislation as presented fails to address runaway climate change and is recommending emissions cuts far below those identified by science as being necessary.”

The target presented in the bill of 2.5% per annum is less than the 3% cuts promised in the programme for government and less than the 30% that the EU has committed to deliver, notes Mr Harte.

Colin Roche, of Oxfam Ireland, adds: “The bill should be strengthened with interim targets and carbon budgets to ensure that every government must take the necessary action on climate change.”

Ireland’s farm groups, however, argue that the bill does not give adequate credit to the eco-friendly methods already being employed by food producers, with far greater ‘green sinks’ such as grassland and forestry than, for example, South American competitors.

Employer group IBEC agrees with the farm groups’ analysis that the bill could hit profits and impede new job creation in the sector. IFA president John Bryan warns that the draft climate change legislation could cost €4bn in existing and planned production.

Mr Bryan said: “The country cannot afford the loss of sustainable jobs and exports that will accrue from the Government’s Food Harvest 2020 strategy, and a few Greens who no longer have a mandate from the public must not be allowed rush through ill-advised and badly thought out legislation.

“The irony is that food production here, which is carried out on a sustainable basis, would be replaced by countries which have a very poor record on the environment. Ireland’s grass-based production system ensures that we produce beef and milk with lower carbon intensity than other exporting nations.

“Over the past 20 years emissions from milk and beef production have all declined in Ireland. We have a low carbon model of food production and Government policy must not undermine the sector’s ability to drive exports and jobs as part of our economic recovery.”

The Green Party has consistently argued that the bill does give credit to Ireland’s ‘green sinks’ and eco-friendly production methods. The party also said that the legislation does not surpass EU requirements, and that it incorporates the ability to be adjusted quickly should it prove to have any negative impact on the economy.

The bill has been debated at length this week in the Oireachtas. The Seanad members will put it to a vote on Thursday.