I am thankful for the invitation to address the committee on the heads of the Bill. I am accompanied by the following: Dr. Eugene Hendrick, a senior inspector with the forestry service who also deals with climate change, among other matters; Mr. John Muldowney, who provides the agri-scientific analysis to my division; and Ms Margaret Murray, head of the climate change section.
The heads of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill provide for sectoral roadmaps to be developed that will, in turn, inform the development of a national low-carbon roadmap. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has been requested to prepare such a sectoral roadmap for agriculture, and in this regard the Department has commenced its work. As outlined, we will be liaising with colleagues in other Departments on cross-cutting issues. The Minister welcomes the inclusion of the director of Teagasc as an ex officio member of the proposed expert advisory body to be established under the heads of the Bill. The Department looks forward to working with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to see how it will pan out.
While we understand that the principal focus of the first sectoral and national roadmaps is likely to be on the challenge facing Ireland in the more immediate term in meeting the 2020 targets, we are also conscious of the need to take a long-term view of how the agriculture sector will develop right out to 2050.
In 2012, Teagasc prepared a detailed marginal abatement cost curve, MACC, study, which outlines its analysis for cost-effectively mitigating agriculture emissions to 2020. In response to the recent NESC final report on the climate challenge, Teagasc has commenced a qualitative assessment of pathways towards a carbon-neutral agriculture sector by 2050. Teagasc expects to have this work completed during the summer months, and this will be valuable in informing the Department's preparation of the first sectoral roadmap and the overall national roadmap.
The heads list a number of important factors to be considered in developing the sectoral and national roadmaps, and these include: the need to promote sustainable development; the likely economic impact of a national or sectoral roadmap; the need to secure and safeguard the economic development and competitiveness of the State; and the need to take advantage of economic opportunities both within and outside the State. As regards sustainability, the European Commission's joint research centre has found that Irish dairy production has the joint lowest carbon footprint in the EU, along with Austria. The footprint of Irish beef is also below the EU average.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has found that the temperate grassland production system, which is the predominant system of production in Ireland, is the most efficient type of food production system in the world. A joined-up approach that features sustainable growth, allied to smarter, greener agricultural systems, is key to the continued expansion of the sector. The benefits will include achieving economies of scale, lower carbon footprints on a per-unit-of-production basis, and progressive protection of the environment when the system is well managed and monitored. The current Common Agricultural Policy negotiations are at a very sensitive stage. The Department will utilise the new policy, particularly through the next national rural development programme, in order to help Irish farmers achieve the widest possible level of implementation and adoption of effective mitigation measures and thus improve efficiency even further.
My division has supplied briefing notes to members. They will see that the agriculture sector is extremely important to the Irish economy. According to 2012 statistics, it provides 8% of total employment, 7.7% of GVA and 10.8% of exports, or €9 billion in monetary terms. Significant economic employment and rural development benefits continue to accrue to Ireland from the sector. These are set to expand further with the rolling out of Food Harvest 2020, reform of the Common Agricultural Policy after 2013, the lifting of the milk quota restrictions in 2015 and the opening of new markets. However, we need to be resourceful both to retain existing markets and open new ones. Anything that can provide a competitive edge must be grasped with both hands. The sustainability and carbon agendas are areas in which Ireland can do well by building on our natural advantages and agri-food strengths.
In June 2012, Bord Bia launched Origin Green, a national sustainability development programme designed to help Ireland to become a world leader in sustainably produced food and drink. It is intended that 75% of Irish food and drink exports will be sourced from companies participating in Origin Green before the end of 2014. Some 254 Irish food and drink companies are already registered to participate in the programme. This represents more than 70% of Ireland's existing food and drink exports.
At farm level, since May 2011 over 43,000 participants in Bord Bia's beef quality assurance scheme have participated in a sustainability survey as part of their regular farm audit. Ireland is the first country in the world to assess the footprint performance of farms on a national scale. Similar programmes are planned for the dairy industry, poultry production at both farm and processing levels, and pigmeat and lamb production. It is intended that all this work will be completed by the end of 2013. Projects are also being planned for grain and horticulture.
The 2009 effort-sharing decision included agriculture in the non-ETS category, and tasked Ireland with a very challenging 20% reduction target for the combined sectors of transport, energy, the built environment, waste and agriculture. We must face up to the reality of this decision and try to reach the targets that were set. However, it is vital that we continue to make the strong case both at EU and UN framework convention levels that there is inconsistency in this rather blunt approach to target-setting as far as agriculture is concerned when placed in the context of the worldwide demand for increased production of food.
We have been working closely with the Department of the Environment to explain the particular nature of the Irish greenhouse gases profile to the Commission.
As a result of this work, the Commission understands and acknowledges both the nature and carbon efficiency of the agriculture sector in Ireland as well as its economic and social importance. The Department is finalising material for the Irish agriculture response to two recent European Commission documents. These are the Commission's Green Paper, A 2030 Framework for Climate and Energy Policies, and The 2015 International Climate Change Agreement: Shaping international climate policy beyond 2020. Our material will feed into the national response to both papers, which will be provided by our colleagues in the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government as the lead Department.
It makes no sense to set future targets that could lead to a reduction in production in an agriculture system recognised as one of the most efficient in the world. Such an approach carries the very real risk of carbon leakage whereby production would be taken up by less sustainable systems in other parts of the world with consequent overall increases in global emissions. A fundamental objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC, is to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level which avoids dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Article 2 of the convention states that a stable level should be achieved within a timeframe sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change to ensure food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed sustainably. Food security is clearly at the heart of the founding principles of the UNFCCC. The human population is set to rise by an additional 2 billion to 9 billion by 2050. The European Commission's 2015 staff working document on the Commission's discussion papers notes that by 2030 the population is set to increase to 8 billion and that it is expected that there will be a 50% increase in demand for food by that year. The document indicates that agricultural productivity and production must continue to increase to feed the world's growing population.
All land use activities should be considered in the context of moving to a competitive low-carbon economy, including forestry. Forestry is one of the very few sectors which demonstrates a significant capacity to achieve national emission reductions. Forestry planting rights have a critical bearing on overall carbon neutrality through carbon sequestration. In addition, the increased sustainable use of domestically harvested wood products and the use of wood fuels as an alternative to fossil fuels can also limit emissions and enhance the removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. By the end of 2012, forest cover in Ireland stood at almost 760,000 ha, 11% of the total land area of the country. In recent years, afforestation has been almost entirely carried out by the private sector with the support of State grant and premium schemes. The most recent afforestation figures show that 6,653 ha were planted in 2011 while 6,652 ha were planted in 2012. The majority of afforestation is carried out by farmers. In 2011 and 2012, 94% of all new planting took place on land owned by farmers. Just 6% of planting took place on land not owned by farmers.
The Department is contributing to a working group chaired by our colleagues in the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to develop a national bio-energy strategy. The work is expected to be completed during the summer. In framing the strategy, consideration will be given to maximising the opportunities from within the agriculture and forestry sectors to contribute to the renewable energy targets for 2020 and beyond. This includes the use of agricultural waste, energy crops and forest residues. Ireland is to the forefront of research aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. Internationally, the Department represents Ireland on the governing board of the joint programming initiative on agriculture, food security and climate change and the global research alliance on agricultural greenhouse gases. Ireland is a founder member of the Global Research Alliance, the objective of which is to pool the resources of like-minded countries to enable the agriculture sector to continue to reduce emissions. In 2012, Ireland became a founding partner of the new partnership on benchmarking and monitoring the environmental performance of livestock supply chains of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.
Since 2005, the Department has made awards totalling more than €20 million on domestic climate change related projects. Last November, €2.7 million was allocated to projects on aspects of sustainability and climate change, including sustainable nitrogen use and sustainable ruminant production and life cycle analysis. It is vital that the results of this research are put into practice at farm level to guarantee the supply of sustainable food into the future. The Department has developed and funded schemes to incentivise farmers to learn about the best practices in farming. These include the dairy efficiency programme and the beef and sheep technology action programmes. Teagasc and other private advisers are key to providing an advisory service to farmers.
Ireland currently produces enough food to feed a human population of well in excess of 30 million people. We export up to 85% of our agricultural output. Irish farmers know very well that they are custodians of the Irish countryside for future generations. Food production is at the heart of the global climate effort under the UNFCCC, and Irish agriculture is above all about sustainable production of food. In national policy formulation, decisions should be informed by our well-earned world reputation and our proven performance as one of the most efficient food production countries. The Irish agrifood sector must continue to produce more food more efficiently in carbon terms. National climate policy should support and enhance that effort.
