Enda Kenny is a lucky man. In my Macra debating days I received some strange topics that I had serious difficulty in defending. Then occasionally I got a motion that I genuinely believed in.

This is the type of motion our Taoiseach had to propose this week in Brussels. The EU Heads of Government were meeting to decide, among other things, the EU 2030 climate targets. Ireland, through the combined work of IFA, Teagasc and Government have all successfully argued that, when dealing with climate change, agriculture is different.

Irish agriculture in particular stands out in two ways. Firstly the fact it plays such a huge part in our overall economy means that agricultural Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions are 32% of our total.

This does not mean us farmers are doing a bad job. Other country’s farmers could be producing the same or higher levels of GHG, but don’t stand out because heavy industry or fossil fuel production levels of GHG dwarf their agricultural industry. Plus of course that 32% doesn’t count any carbon absorbed for instance by land or forestry, in other words it only counts the bad bits.

Grass-based farming

When Enda Kenny spoke recently at the UN climate conference in New York he referred to Ireland as being a world leader in climate-smart agriculture. He held up Irish grass based farming as an example to the rest of the world of how global food should be produced.

This is the second way we stand out. By utilising our grass growing ability and abundant supply of water we are logically among the best places in the world to produce cattle and sheep for milk and meat. That means using our environment and climate to its best advantage in a global context.

Free pass

The deal hammered out in Brussels last night is not a free pass for Ireland to drive on without any restrictions. Each country must still agree individual GHG targets and Ireland must play its part in achieving the EU 40% total cuts and 27% in each of total renewable energy and energy efficiency. It does of course mean more to Ireland than others given the relative importance of agriculture to the economy.

The agreement on agriculture recognises that a blunt cut in total GHG emissions would effectively mean a blunt cut in food production or an impossible burden on other sectors to make up the difference. The aim instead is to recognise the work already underway in reducing the emissions per litre or kg of product and to continue to improve.

Food security

The other recognition is the “multi-functional role of agriculture”, such as the fact that farming also stores carbon in plants and soil, produces energy for example through forestry, and of course the obvious food security.

There’s still a lot of work to do on various calculation methodology, the individual country’s contributions and the imminent Irish Climate Bill. It has however been a good day in the office to allow farmers to continue to produce delicious and quality food for a global consumer, while also aiming for the lowest possible carbon footprint.