Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 May 2021
177. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the extent to which hedgerows, trees and non-arable agricultural land is used in calculation in respect of carbon levels and reduction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27400/21]
View answerGreenhouse gas emissions and removals associated with land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) are reported in Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions inventory prepared by the Environmental Protections Agency (EPA) and submitted annually to the EU and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. LULUCF includes activities associated with forestry, croplands, grasslands, wetlands, settlements and other lands. The LULUCF (Regulation (EU) 2018/841) has established the mechanisms whereby LULUCF activities are to be included in Member States emissions reduction targets for 2021 to 2030 under the Effort Sharing Regulation (Regulation (EU) 842/2018). Chapter six in the EPA's National Inventory Report, available at: www.epa.ie/pubs/reports/air/airemissions/ghg/nir2021
describes what’s included in each LULUCF sub-sector and the methodologies used for estimating emissions and removals.
Hedgerows and non-forest woodland/trees, as landscape features within cropland, grassland and other land use categories, can form part of the emissions and removal estimates for these land use categories, though they are not currently separately identified within their parent categories pending further information from on-going research being available.
As noted in the Climate Action Plan 2019, the biggest challenge in data capture for Irish hedgerows and non-forest woodland/tress is the quantification of the carbon in the above and below ground biomass. To address the lack of data on the potential for hedgerow carbon sequestration, Teagasc has recently commenced a research project (funded by the EPA) called “Farm-Carbon – Farm Hedgerows and Non-forest Woodland Carbon”. The overall objective of this project is to advance the understanding of the contribution of hedgerows and non-forest woodland to carbon stocks in agricultural landscapes, and to identify approaches to maintain and enhance this contribution.
In addition, the EPA land-use mapping project, which is currently on-going, will bring together the various spatial datasets available so that full coverage of land-use features, including hedgerows, within the spatial land-use map can be identified.
