DAERA has provided clarity on its current proposals for rolling out a carbon footprinting project across NI farms.
In particular, a DAERA spokesperson confirmed it is proposing that completion of a carbon audit will be needed to avoid Farm Sustainability Payment (FSP) penalties from 2029.
“In order to meet the proposed FSP conditionality, participation in the carbon footprinting project requires farm businesses to register for the project, undertake a carbon footprint and complete the CAFRE training when this is offered,” the spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal.
The proposed penalty matrix for non-compliance with carbon footprinting is similar to the conditions for the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme and the Bovine Genetics Project.
In effect, it means that farms which do not complete a carbon audit would face a 10% FSP penalty in 2029, rising to a 15% penalty from 2030 onwards.
Letter
The confusion around the issue stems from a letter which DAERA sent to Stormont’s agriculture committee earlier this month about draft legislation for the carbon footprinting project.
At a meeting at Stormont last week, the wording of the proposed regulations was queried by the deputy chair of the committee, Declan McAleer.
“Reading the regulations, it doesn’t specify a requirement to actually do carbon auditing. It’s a requirement to register and complete the training,” the Sinn Féin MLA suggested.
Debate
With DAERA now clarifying that completion of carbon audits is also a requirement, there is likely to be significant debate about the issue at Stormont over the coming weeks.
Officials from DAERA are set to brief MLAs about the proposed legislation in November and several members of the agriculture committee have already set out their opposition to the plans.
It follows on from the Ulster Farmers’ Union taking the position that it does not want carbon footprinting to be tied to scheme conditions for claiming FSP.
