September 18th, 2019
The Minister for Climate Action’s claim that agriculture is our greatest carbon sink is a “misleading soundbite” that ignores the latest data outlining the land-use sector as a net emitter, An Taisce has said.
In the
building up to this week’s National Ploughing Championships, Richard Bruton TD
stated that while agriculture is our largest single source of greenhouse gas, the
sector is also our “single greatest carbon sink”.
When asked by
The Green News for data to support
this statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Climate Action (DCCAE) said
that the Minister was referring to the wider land use sector that includes land
under forestry production and substantial carbon sinks such as peatlands.
The Climate
Action Plan, the spokesperson continued, includes a range of actions aimed at
reducing emissions from agricultural land use, promoting increased rates of
afforestation and improving the management of Ireland’s peatlands.
According to
An Taisce, however, such carbon sinks can only reduce
agricultural emissions where Irish land use is a net remover of carbon
emissions, which the group says is currently not the case, pointing to the latest Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) data.
The EPA’s most recent data sent to the UNFCCC shows that Irish land use is currently a major source of carbon emissions, with emissions from grasslands and wetlands well outweighing the removal of CO2 from forestry and harvested wood products.
According to
a recent
report sent to the EU by the Department of Agriculture, managed forest land
itself is already a net emitter with a transition from a sink to a source by 2017.
The report projects a “consistent increases” in GHG emissions from 420 Gg CO2eq
in 2018 to over 2,000 Gg CO2eq by 2025.
This is due
to an increase in
the level of
harvesting, a declining age class of forest areas, an increase in emissions
from forest fires, and an increase
in emissions released from
organic soils due
to drainage associated with plantation
afforestation.
“It would be helpful if the Minister and his advisers, together with his officials in the DCCAE consulted with the experts… before issuing such misleading soundbites,” An Taisce said.
“Those
leading the State’s Climate Action policy need to understand that current land
use practices in agriculture, forestry and peatlands continue on a high carbon
pathway, despite the greenwashing rhetoric from vested commercial interests.”
“Given plans for increased biomass energy from forest land timber, it seems likely that this pressure for increased harvesting may well worsen. Limiting harvesting to ensure no loss in carbon storage now seems essential,” the groups said.
Another
major issue outlined by An Taisce as driving the ongoing reduction in land use
carbon stocks is the “serious carbon emissions” due to drainage of organic
grassland soils and peat extraction for use in horticulture.
Therefore, the environmental group wants to see regulation to prevent and reverse drainage of organic soils and a rapid cessation of all peat extraction rather than limited measures to slowly rebuild carbon stocks.
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