Gassy cattle prove obstacle to Ireland’s climate targets

Ireland’s burping cattle post one of the biggest obstacles to this country meeting the targets on climate change expected to be agreed in Paris next month.

However, MEP Sean Kelly says he was confident an agreement reached by the EU with input from the European Parliament would make sure that the country’s agriculture is protected.

Mr Kelly will be the only Irish MEP on the European Parliament’s team in Paris at the UN’s global climate change conference which aims to reach a worldwide agreement to limit the rise in temperatures to 2C.

He explains that while the EU wants to lead the world by having the most ambitious goals and policies, it has to be careful that it does not make life impossible for agriculture and business.

“The EU wants binding targets and we want a binding agreement in Paris and we also need to make sure there is no carbon leakage — that is losing jobs and business to other countries with less strict conditions,” he said.

He was selected by the parliament’s industry, research, and energy committee to lead discussions and finalise a report on the parliament’s position for the Paris conference.

“We managed to produce a balanced report, especially with a view to Ireland and especially in relation to agriculture and to ensure that other countries adopt the same reductions as the EU. This was not easy but we did succeed in getting agreement on a form of wording that in the end got the majority support it needed during the vote in the Euroepan Parliament.”

MEP Sean Kelly

This basically said that the EU will demand that “other global emitters will do the same” as Europe.

He believes this strengthens Europe’s hand in pressing other countries for similar commitments, and in addition if other countries do not match the targets the EU has set for itself, the union will be free to review the situation.

“We are not being selfish or compromising climate change ambitions with this demand,” he said.

If strict conditions lead to business and agriculture moving out of Ireland and the EU they will move to other countries that will have lower standards, and so the global targets will be endangered.

Having the EU and the UN recognise that grassland and forests soak up and keep carbon safely has been very important for Ireland as it offsets the effect of the cattle herd emitting methane, which is one of the climate change gasses.

“We don’t want to see beef being produced elsewhere because Irish agriculture is working on becoming more environmentally friendly and this would not necessarily be the same if Europe’s beef was being produced half way across the world,” Mr Kelly added.