Looking at Value Chain, Farmer often Least Rewarded’, Sinkevičius tells Ó Cathasaigh
Green Party TD for Waterford Marc Ó Cathasaigh took the opportunity to engage with European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius while attending a high-level Greens/EFA Group Leaders meeting in Brussels recently. During their interaction, they discussed the Commissioner’s recent visit to Ireland to discuss the nitrates derogation and the need to financially support farmers engaging in climate and nature-friendly farming practices.
Speaking after the engagement, Dep. Ó Cathasaigh said:
I thanked Commissioner Sinkevičius for meeting with eNGOs such as the Sustainable Water Network during his recent brief visit to Ireland to discuss the future of the Nitrates Derogation. I also stressed the need for the Nature Restoration Law to be adequately funded, either through the Multiannual Financial Framework or some other mechanism, as CAP funding won’t suffice.
The Commissioner agreed with my view (very much informed by the work of Natural Capital Ireland) that we need to find a way to ensure that nature is represented on the balance sheet, with the Commissioner commenting that we need to develop a system akin to the ETS to account for nature and ecosystem services.
We also discussed the need to support farmers, and small farmers in particular in this transition, with Mr. Sinkevičius commenting that looking at the whole value chain, the farmer is often the least rewarded. If we’re serious about helping agriculture on its decarbonisation journey, that’s something that needs to change.
Deputy Ó Cathasaigh was in Brussels a high-level Greens/EFA Group Leaders meeting to discuss the future of the Green New Deal and the challenges posed by issues of migration and the rise of the Far Right across the continent:
‘As a European movement, Green Parties across the continent have a unique opportunity to share experiences from their own national context. It’s important that we take lessons from the perspective of colleagues across Europe and Eastern Europe in particular as we head into a year of local and European elections in 2024.’
