Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs how his Department (i) monitors; and (ii) recognises the work carried out by (a) farmers; and (b) other land managers undertaking measures to reduce their carbon output.
Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs: My Department is seeking to ensure that as many of the new policy interventions as possible being introduced through the Farm Support and Development Programme (FSDP) help to drive down the carbon footprint of the agricultural sector.
Within the FSDP, the Carbon Footprinting Project will provide a baseline whole farm carbon footprint to all farm businesses in Northern Ireland in a standardised and consistent way. Training will also be provided to farm businesses to help them to understand their carbon footprint reports and identify actions they can take to reduce emissions. Monitoring of Project participants will be undertaken to assess their increased awareness of managing their net carbon emissions to achieve reductions.
In addition, the FSDP’s Monitoring and Evaluation Framework will provide evidence on an annual basis on progress of achievement of performance indicators in relation to reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions from NI Agriculture and Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry.
The FSDP will promote more efficient, lower carbon and sustainable farming practices through a mix of incentivisation, innovation, and enhanced farmer knowledge and training, with a firm focus on data to help with decision making.
It is planned that participation in the Carbon Footprinting Project will be a one of the conditionalities for receipt of the new Farm Sustainability Payment.
ENDS
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