What does the Government have to say?

What does the Government have to say? 100

The new Programme for Government, “Our Shared Future” sets out Ireland’s policy commitments over the next five years. While COVID-19 has presented immense challenges and devasting consequences, it has offered the nation an opportunity “to implement radical policies that were considered impossible before”.

» Goal to reduce the nation’s GHG emissions by 51% over the next decade.

» Several key policy areas within the Programme offer the opportunity to support AD development.

The nation has committed to a 51% reduction in GHG emissions over the next decade with the ultimate goal of net zero emissions by 2050. In order to meet these targets agriculture, the built environment, energy, and transport will need to fully decarbonise or even deliver negative emissions through carbon sinks and innovative technology101. A recent unanimous supreme court ruling, however, ruled that the government’s national climate action plans fall short of what is needed to meet the county’s commitments, calling for a more ambitious plan specifying how these 2050 targets will be met102 .

Under the Green New Deal and Balanced Regional Development missions, the government has promised to fulfil several key policies in relation to energy and decarbonising agriculture. The role of sustainable bioenergy will be central to reducing the use of inorganic nitrogen fertilizers and to the implementation of the National Waste and Circular Economy Action Plan. In order to do so the role of community energy and Ireland’s on-farm anaerobic digestion potential will be explored and developed. This is further reinforced through the retraction of support for imported fracked gas. An additional ban on the exploration for offshore gas would further the government’s commitment to reducing GHGs, allowing for indigenous biogas to replace imports and increasing security of energy supply once the Corrib gas field is depleted.

The Programme recognises the difficulties and uncertainties the agriculture sector in Ireland has faced over recent years, including Brexit, COVID-19, changes to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), unforeseen weather events, and market disruptions in the beef sector. Building resilience to overcome these challenges will require research and innovation in the agri-food sector that focus on environmental sustainability and the bioeconomy, and investments in onfarm renewable infrastructure through the implementation of the National Policy Statement on the Bioeconomy. Additionally, the Programme will seek reforms to CAP that incentivise farmers to sequester carbon, improve biodiversity, water, and air quality, and produce renewable energy. This will all be supported through the development of results-based support schemes, including the establishment of an Energy Efficient Farming scheme.

While the new Programme for Government offers a distinct opportunity to progress AD through supportive policy, there is lack of detail on how this sector will be developed. This agenda places energy and agriculture as a central focus to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, reiterating that this is the time for profound change. With continuously rising emissions a supportive AD plan for Ireland must be developed.