Agricultural and industry interests 'cannot be allowed' to influence climate targets, warns expert

'Often in the agriculture debate, there is a misconception that methane is not as important as CO2.' File picture: David Creedon

Individual sectors and lobby groups in industries including agriculture cannot be allowed to influence climate targets in the future, thereby foisting most of the heavy lifting onto the public, one of Ireland's foremost climate change experts has said.

Dr Hannah Daly, a lecturer in sustainable energy and energy systems modelling at University College Cork (UCC) and a former modeller and analyst at the International Energy Agency (IEA) who has provided advice at the Oireachtas Climate Committee, said methane emissions must not play second fiddle to CO2 in climate targets.

She was speaking in light of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report that found unequivocally that human behaviour has a harmful impact on the environment.

Carbon dioxide concentration is the highest it has been in at least 2m years, sea levels are rising at the fastest rate in 3,000 years, Arctic sea ice levels are at their lowest in at least 1,000 years, and glaciers are in retreat in unprecedented levels over the past 2,000 years, the report found.

Climate Bill

Ireland's newly enacted Climate Bill requires all carbon budgets to be in line with the Paris Climate Agreement and will target a reduction of 51% of emissions by 2030.

Carbon budgets were announced in October last year, and will include all greenhouse gases in each five-year cycle and will allocate emissions ceilings to the likes of motorists, households, farmers, businesses, and industry.

Dr Daly said: "If we have individual sector climate targets being influenced by industry pressure groups, it is going to force the actions onto the public.

"Often in the agriculture debate, there is a misconception that methane is not as important as CO2. While CO2 absolutely has to go to zero, we absolutely do need strong reductions in methane, which is the main greenhouse gas caused by cows, and by agriculture in Ireland.

"Actually, we have a brilliant opportunity in Ireland to reduce the previous warming already caused, because if we reduce methane emissions, we can reverse previous warming, whereas with CO2, we can’t do that until we’ve taken it out of the atmosphere. 

Reducing methane emissions is one of the strong measures we have to avoiding some of the most dangerous climate change in the next 20 years."

The IPCC report, while not providing any new information that we did not already know or suspect, provided clarity and certainty of human damage, Dr Daly said.

"What is very special about this is that it allows us to attribute certain climate events to what has caused heatwaves, drought, extreme weather events. 

"We know that every little bit of additional warming will cause more damage, and the additional warming won’t stop getting worse until we completely eliminate greenhouse gas emissions entirely. 

"In Ireland, we have a very strong climate law which will halve our emissions in the next 8.5 years, and completely eliminate greenhouse gases in 28.5 years. So every choice we now make matters."

"We have to face the reality as well that change is coming, and the sooner we acknowledge that, accept it, and try to make the best of it, the better the outcome."

CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB