EPA - Ireland's Environment, An Integrated Assessment - 2020

Chapter 13: Environment and Agriculture 5. Conclusions Environmental Pressures and Sustainability It is clear from this integrated environmental review of agriculture that change is now required in the sector to ensure its environmental sustainability. Ireland has a reputation for natural food production and critical to this reputation is the appeal that food produced in Ireland has a low environmental footprint. However, this reputation is at risk of being irreversibly damaged because of current growth trends in air pollutant emissions (most importantly ammonia) and greenhouse gas emissions, and the decline in water quality and biodiversity. Business as usual will not reverse these trends; systemic change is required across the food system to address the challenges.The sector is responsible for approximately a third of national greenhouse gas emissions and over 99 per cent of national ammonia emissions and has been identified as the largest significant pressure on our water resources. Food Wise 2025 A core principle of the Food Wise 2025 strategy was that ‘environmental protection and economic competitiveness are equal and complementary: one cannot be achieved at the expense of the other’. The strategy also stated that ‘future food production systems must be as focused on managing and sustaining our natural resources as they are on increasing production’. However, the evidence shows that these two objectives have not been met and that the economic growth of the sector in recent years has occurred at the expense of the environment, as witnessed by the negative trends in water quality, greenhouse gas emissions, ammonia emissions and biodiversity. It is also clear from the evidence that agricultural and other land management practices are key drivers of these negative trends. Further work is now urgently required to address this imbalance, most importantly in the context of the new strategy for the sector to 2030 that is currently being developed. The agri-food and land management sectors in both the public and the private arenas also need to become, and be seen to be, strong advocates for a clean and well-protected environment, as they have been for intensification and efficiency. This re-balancing of focus needs to be a top priority for the sectors; otherwise, commitments to sustainability and environmental protection risk being seen to be of lesser importance than commitments to expansion, intensification, competitiveness and efficiency. Climate Change As a society we will all face the consequences of climate change and we must adapt to the changes in our climate that are foreseen. The agriculture sector will also have to adapt to these changes, as well as addressing the challenge of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. Ireland will experience extended periods of drought-like conditions leading to potential water shortages, increased run-off volumes during intense rainfall events and the emergence of plant and animal diseases that have previously not been prevalent in Ireland. These challenges must be faced in conjunction with addressing environmental pressures, placing further emphasis on the development of holistic responses that are wide-ranging and designed to deliver multiple environmental, social and economic benefits. The establishment of the Teagasc Carbon Navigator, marginal abatement cost curves, Smart Farming initiative and ASSAP are examples of good practice. However, much wider uptake and implementation of measures at the farm level is needed. 345