He was speaking at the Teagasc carbon farming conference in Ashtown, which heard it is very difficult to measure carbon in soils to establish a baseline and there will be “winners and losers” when it comes to how much carbon can be sequestered in different soils.
He told the conference the current EU regulation certification framework is very clear, but a lot of what is happening in the voluntary carbon markets will never be depicted in the national inventories.
A farmer doing an action that increases the carbon sequestration will be counted in the national inventory and can be traded on the voluntary carbon market, he said.
“The certification framework is very clear… everything we certify will also count towards our climate targets.
“Of course, in 10-15 years, the LULUCF national inventory should just be the sum of what we see on each individual farm, but we are not there yet.
“A farmer sells a credit to Ryanair. Yes, that’s perfectly possible. And probably the national inventory may not even see it, but it is perfectly possible and according to the rules of the carbon farming certification programme, it should always be like that, that this is accounted towards the LULUCF target of the member state where this carbon removal is generated.”
A national framework for carbon farming in Ireland is currently being developed, which will set out how it can be measured, verified and certified.
The Department of Agriculture’s Bernard Harris told the conference the Department had received 457 responses from feedback, one-third of which were from farmers.
He said the responses showed there was broad agreement there should be a compensation mechanism to reward eco-systems services and that carbon removal, greenhouse gas reductions and biodiversity measures needed to be included in the carbon farming framework.
However, who should pay for the services covered by a framework was less clear, he said.
Further, the responses found that while the facility to diversify farm income was viewed as positive, just 53pc of the consultation participants said they would be willing to join an initiative right now.
This, he said, highlighted the uncertainty from farmers in the area.
Vincent Roddy, President of the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA), said while there are opportunities for farmers in carbon farming, there is a “big challenge” to get farmers on board as there is a lot of “doubt” and “mistrust” after REPS was pulled in 2008.
“Obviously, farmers on designated land and in special areas of conservation… have been left high and dry for years.
“There are historical issues there that need to be addressed first to build that level of trust,” he said.
Former Macra president Thomas Duffy raised concerns about who would be allowed in the carbon trading market.
“The big concern for me as a farmer is would it be cheaper for [these] industries to simply buy out farmers, potentially abandon the land and use that as a carbon credit system?”
Karl Richards, Head of Teagasc Climate Centre, said that while Ireland doesn’t have a voluntary carbon market, a well-functioning voluntary market could see an every-few-years forever payment and be an economic decision for farmers.
