A battle for many of the issues like justice, minority peoples, and compensation was being waged in Paris overnight as more than 100 countries joined together to demand a more ambitious global agreement on climate change.

Globally and at EU level, we face the twin challenges of increasing food production to meet the demands of nine billion people in 2050, and keeping global temperature rises below 2 degrees centigrade over pre-industrial levels.

Europe needs to review how agriculture’s carbon emissions are assessed, or risk seeing food production move to less eco-efficient countries like Brazil, Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney has warned.

ENVIRONMENT Minister Phil Hogan’s announcement that a climate change bill is not a priority, signalled a major change from the policy of his predecessor John Gormley.

DOING the politically correct thing is never easy, and the latest PC dilemma arises in the European biofuel industry.

IRELAND’s reputation for low-carbon farming should be harnessed to ensure that the authorities governing global agriculture promote Irish food production while capping outputs from less efficient regions, business leaders heard at a Teagasc conference at Dublin’s Mansion House yesterday.

The country’s leading think-tank today revealed it will not be withdrawing a report on a controversial incinerator heavily criticised by opponents of the scheme.

FARMERS can produce renewable electricity, cut greenhouse gas emissions and create thousands of jobs, the climate change conference in Dublin Castle was told.

PHARMACEUTICAL giant Pfizer yesterday admitted to being “bemused” by reports of the company planning to secure the soon-to-be-closed ADM Ringaskiddy plant.