Climate body calls for urgent Government action to 'actively encourage' tree-planting
Urgent action is needed now to ensure Ireland’s forestry sector — generally assumed to be a carbon sink — does not become a source of greenhouse gas emissions, the Climate Change Advisory Council has warned.Tree-planting rates remain well below the target of 8,000 hectares per year.And storms Darragh and Éowyn exposed how vulnerable Ireland’s forests are to extreme weather, with more than 26,000 hectares damaged by severe winds.The damage to forests during the winter of 2024/25 is likely to result in a significant one-off increase in carbon losses from the sector, the full extent of which will not be assessed until reporting in 2026, the council said.A large proportion of the national forest estate is also approaching harvesting age, and afforestation rates are insufficient to balance the resulting removals of stored carbon, the council warned.The forestry sector is projected to have transitioned from sink to source of carbon in 2024. The Climate Change Advisory Council has issued the stark warnings in its Annual Review of the Agriculture and Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry sector report.Strengthened policy levers are required to incentivise increased tree-planting, the council said.Agriculture remains the largest source of emissions in Ireland, and this sector must reduce emissions by 25% by 2030 to meet the target in the latest Climate Action Plan. Provisional data from 2024 showed emissions had decreased by only 4.6% since 2018.The council highlighted a range of areas it said must be addressed to reduce emissions from the sector. This includes the deployment of methane-reducing manure additives, and greater use of protected urea fertilisers. Increasing diversification in the sector is also critical, particularly in relation to the National Biomethane Strategy, which the council has described as "piecemeal" and lacking joined-up thinking.Commenting on the need for improved performance from the forestry sector, Marie Donnelly, chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council said: “What we have seen in the sector is a failure of policy, with schemes to incentivise more planting not delivering the results required.“We need a policy from Government that will actively encourage afforestation in the areas most suited to planting. The council is concerned about plans to plant on deep peatlands, with all evidence suggesting that this leads to significant carbon losses over time. "Therefore, it is essential that the current constraints on afforestation on deep peat remain unchanged and are rigorously enforced.” The council also highlighted the opportunity for the forestry sector to deliver modern construction methods with the expansion of timber frame construction providing the potential for a strong domestic market for locally produced timber.The forestry sector contributes €2.1bn to the Irish economy, employing more than 9,400 people.One cubic metre of timber replacing concrete and steel in construction saves 0.77t CO2 emissions. Yet only 24% of building construction in Ireland is timber, compared to over 80% in places like Finland, Scotland and Sweden.
