In Ireland, a demonstration was organised on Carbon crediting. A Presentation was made to farmer representatives of the livestock committee of the Irish Farmers Association. Firstly Dr. Stuart Green from Teagasc presented on technologies for measuring carbon on farms. Then Anais l’Hote from IDELE, France, presented details of the LIFE CARBON FARMING project. The group in attendance was circa 40 with representatives from Teagasc and the Irish Department of Agriculture.
Farmers in attendance were happy to hear of ways in which they could be rewarded for the carbon they are capturing through their hedgerows and trees. They also considered that such features are of a high nature value and promoted biodiversity.
Farmers were not sure that the methodology to measure carbon capture on farm could accurately identify all carbon sequestered. In particular farmers were interested in the potential of hedgerows as carbon sinks. They were also concerned as to who would fund such a scheme if it were to be undertaken in Ireland.
The potential to sell carbon credits to large multinationals was also discussed however farmers were also concerned about the potential issue of big multinationals offsetting their carbon emissions by purchasing these credits at the expense of farmers.
Most farmers in attendance would be happy to recommend these scheme to other beef farmers