Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 November 2023
918. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will advise on engagement he has had regarding the provision of funding to underpin the development and roll-out of a Carbon Farming Framework; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47968/23]
View answerAt the national level, Carbon Farming is an important enabler for the agriculture and land use sectors to meet our climate targets. As set out in the most recent Climate Action Plan (2023), I have committed to the development of an enabling framework which can potentially reward farmers and land owners partaking in emission mitigating and carbon removal activities.
It is important that the groundwork be completed to set up a high quality, transparent and successful governance structure which will need to align with and compliment the EU Commission proposal for a Union certification framework for carbon removals (published on 30 November 2022). In this regard, I launched a public consultation to guide the scope of the development of a National Carbon Farming Framework which closed on Friday 3 November.
In parallel to the public consultation, a multi-stakeholder working group which includes industry representation has been established to oversee the development of the Framework. The findings of the public consultation will inform the working group's decision making on the scope of the Framework. Key areas of focus include identifying existing knowledge relevant to the establishment of baseline data, making recommendations for pathways to address knowledge gaps, assessing future auditing requirements, the development of voluntary carbon codes and the identification of best practice governance structures.
Also key to developing a carbon farming model in Ireland is research. To that end, I have provided funding for initiatives such as the establishment of the National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory (NASCO), the Pilot Soil Sampling Programme, and the Farm Environmental Scheme along with several European Innovation Partnership (EIP) research projects, to provide the required data for the development of future policy options in this area. An example is the RePEAT project working to accurately identify the extent of organic soils under agricultural management while investment in European Innovation Projects in the Midlands is developing a results-based agri-environmental model to reward farmers for implementing sustainable management practices on Peat soils.
My department is supporting the Digital Sustainability Platform (AgNav) in co-operation with Teagasc, the Irish Cattle Breeding Association (ICBF) and Bord Bia, in developing a new digital platform to facilitate a robust whole farm sustainability assessment and “counting” of carbon emissions and removals. AgNav will facilitate access to reliable and robust estimates of carbon for each individual farm and accurately provide baseline figures for farmers using verified data. Platforms such as this can underpin the adoption of a Carbon Farming Framework in Ireland and can showcase how best practice management techniques can be adopted on a wide range of enterprises and soil types. A well-functioning National Carbon Farming Framework that provides confidence, verification and certification is essential to generate a potential additional income source for our farmers in the actions they take to remove and store carbon in our soils, forests, grasslands, croplands, and hedgerows. In the meantime, we will continue to provide financial support for farmers providing eco system's services through a variety of EU and nationally funded schemes.
