Sir, – Tony Lowes (Letters, September 15th) makes an erroneous conclusion regarding the accuracy of Ireland’s greenhouse gas figures which are compiled by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and reported to the EU and UN in compliance with both EU and UN legal requirements.
Mr Lowes incorrectly states that Ireland’s national greenhouse gas emissions do not account for nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from fertiliser application to grassland. Nitrous oxide emissions from fertiliser application are in fact fully accounted for and included in the greenhouse gas emissions compiled for the agriculture sector. They are not attributed to the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector, as Mr Lowes suggests.
N2O emissions from fertiliser application are compiled by the EPA following Tier 2 methods. This approach relies on national fertiliser statistics, provided by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, and country-specific emission factors developed by Teagasc research. The EPA highlights that the global warming potential for N2O over a 100-year period is 265 and not over 300, as suggested.
The LULUCF sector covers emissions related to land management. The extent and importance of these in Ireland is fully recognised in the inventory compilation process. The sector includes the overall gain or loss of carbon from up to five carbon pools, soil disturbance, and the drainage and rewetting of mineral and organic soils as prescribed by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change guidelines. Ireland is one of only two member states that has included all organic soils (including those reported as wetlands) for the period 2021 to 2025 under the LULUCF Regulation (Regulation EU 2018/841), well in advance of the mandatory inclusion for the period 2026 to 2030. The EPA intends to further improve the emissions and removals estimates specifically related to grasslands and move to Tier 2 methods ahead of mandatory submission in 2027. – Yours, etc,
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Dr EIMEAR COTTER,
Director of Office
of Evidence and Assessment,
Environmental Protection Agency,
Johnstown Castle,
Wexford.