Farmers our Kyoto saviours

FARMERS can’t be faulted for Ireland’s poor progress towards Kyoto targets for reducing greenhouse gases.

Of the 15 “old” EU member states, only Spain, Portugal and Greece are rated as doing less than Ireland to protect against climate change. (The ten new member states are all on track to meet targets, because of the collapse of central European economies in the 1990s).

If it wasn’t for farming and other land activities, Ireland would be the environmental slowcoach of Europe. More than half of our greenhouse gas reduction is to come from our landowners, through their response to the Single Payment system, and from growing more trees and crops. In this way, landowners are expected to reduce Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions by 4.4 million tonnes per year. Small reductions in each of the other sectors of our economy will get rid of another 3.5 million tonnes.