Farming is still fiddling with emissions reduction targets while Europe burns

Farmers were being demonised, innocent animals were to be culled, and rural Ireland would revolt.

The media were propagandists, the city suits knew nothing and agriculture – the most sustainable and productive in the world – would be destroyed.

Cliche after cliche tumbled out as a succession of patient scientists and officials offered their reassurances that nobody was trying to ruin farming, farmers, rural Ireland or reputations.

They were, however, trying to cut greenhouse gas emissions – to which Irish farming makes a disproportionate contribution.

It’s been the elephant in the room of cabinet talks for decades, even while seven million cows peered in through the windows.

Now, with Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue holding up national emissions reductions by refusing to accept the cuts proposed for farming, the committee made a somewhat desperate attempt to find him some extra wriggle room.

They brought in two scientists whose view on how agricultural methane emissions should be calculated differs from that of the academic world at large.

Bovine methane shouldn’t be counted, they say, because grass absorbs carbon from the atmosphere – so when cattle eat it and produce methane, they only put out what they take in.

There was some merit to their argument, three other scientists agreed, but only in the long run when the methane oxidises and disappears – a trick that much longer-lingering carbon has not perfected.

In the meantime, methane exercises extraordinary potency, warming the atmosphere at 28 times the rate of CO2.

And there is only a meantime, no long term, when it comes to climate action. The events this week have illustrated that fact in one of the starkest and closest examples we have ever had of runaway temperature rise.

Many parts of Europe have had a summer of brutal temperatures and terrifying fires, but leafy London suburbs bursting into flames was surreally shocking.

Today we have the latest greenhouse gas emissions data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which shows emissions are still rising.

Agriculture is not the only culprit, but it stands out for the growth in the number of dairy cows for the 11th year in a row. That’s despite the impression created that the poor beasts are constantly under threat of being lined up for target practice.

It also stands out for the rising use of nitrogen fertilisers despite beliefs that cutting nitrogen would be the low-hanging fruit of emissions reduction.

Less is being asked of agriculture than of other sectors of the economy and society in terms of emissions reduction, yet its leaders refuse to consider anything but minimum cuts.

There’s nothing minimal about the proposed cuts. Even at the base level of 22pc reduction it would be very challenging, but if farming won’t at least agree to try for 30pc, other sectors will face much larger asks.

They’re unrealistic numbers for all sectors, because, as today’s EPA data shows, everything is moving in the wrong direction and it will take phenomenal effort to turn emissions around.

First, we have to turn mindsets around – but, as yesterday’s committee meeting showed, we’re fiddling with figures while Europe burns. 

Business as usual. As usual.