The NESC report makes 20 recommendations across four key areas and the Climate Action Plan Action 23 states that these should be considered as part of the agriculture sector’s climate initiatives. My Department has carried out a mapping exercise on the 20 recommendations, which has found that the vast majority are already underway as part of existing policy and ongoing.
Regarding the specific recommendation that an "Implementation Group for Climate Transition in Agriculture" be established, this was considered in the context of the other processes and structures currently in place. This includes the work being led by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change on the Just Transition Commission and progress on Phase 2 of the Land Use Review. It is important to ensure that there will be no duplication of effort as we progress this essential work and I am mindful of the workload on our systems and those of our stakeholders in implementing the goals of our climate ambitions, and also the need to be as efficient as possible in our work.
Therefore, I have decided to monitor implementation of the NESC recommendations through the Food Vison 2030 Environmental Sub-Group. This group reports into the dedicated implementation group for Food Vision known as the High Level Implementation Committee, which I chair.
