Speaking at a Farm Europe conference in Brussels Minister Coveney said: “ It is appropriate that we are having a discussion today on sustainability, two days after the historic agreement in Paris which seeks to limit global tempeature increases to less than 2 degrees, and to pursue efforts to achieve 1.5 degrees through binding commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions”.

The Minister noted that the Paris Agreement included some particular points of importance to the agriculture, food and forest sectors. “It is also appropriate that world leaders continue to recognise, in Article 2 of the agreement, that, in seeking to prevent interference with climate, we must do so in a manner that does not threaten food production. I welcome the fact that the Paris Agreement acknowledges the fundamental priority of safeguarding food security and ending hunger, and the particular vulnerabilities of food production systems to the adverse impacts of climate change. These aspects of the COP agreement are consistent with the European Council 's decision last year when the 28 EU Heads of State and Governments agreed to adopt sustainable intensification as EU policy on agriculture and climate change.”

 

 

The Minister also noted that the COP agreement includes a clear recognition of role of forests in mitigating climate change and the need to account for both emissions and removals “ this is something that the Irish Government has been emphasising at EU and UN levels for some years ” . Speaking to an audience of EU officials and stakeholder representatives at the Farm Europe event, Minister Coveney however emphasised that these commitments at COP and in the European Council do not mean that there will be a “free pass ” for agriculture in the global effort to fight climate change. He said that agriculture and forestry could and should play a key role in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

 

“In Ireland our ambition is to be a global leader in sustainable food production. We already have a climate efficient agriculture, but we want to do mu ch more and to ensure that we are and remain the most sustainable producer or milk, beef and other products in the world .” The Minister said this commitment was manifest in the strong emphasis of our Rural Development programme, worth almost €4 billion over seven years, on environmental benefits, bringing the latest innovative sustainability research and practices direct to farmers.

“ We will continue to implement measures to drive down the greenhouse gas intensity of our food production even further from its already existing efficient level, including through the Beef Data and Genomics programme, the Green Low Carbon agri – environmental scheme and the carbon navigator / knowledge transfer programmes. Our Origin Green programme is also providing unique far m level verification of our carbon footprint and marketing this internationally to buyers who are increasingly focused on the sustainability of the food they buy. At the same time we are sequestering significant quantities of carbon though our forestry pro gramme under which we plan to plant 44,000 hectares over the next five years ”

 

The Minister also underlined that Food Wise 2025, our new strategy for the development of the agri – food sector, has sustainable production at its core and sets out a number of specific recommendations aimed at managing growth in a sustainable way and in measuring and monitoring the sustainability credentials of the sector.

 

Source: www.farm-europe.eu