Ireland calls for timber to be included in offsetting scheme

The Irish Parliament is calling on the EU to agree that the country can used forest carbon sinks to offset its non-Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) emissions.

A committee at the parliament – known as the Oireachtas – has drawn up a response to the EU Commission’s Green Paper on Protecting Europe’s Forests Against Climate Change, in which they say that the timber industry, land use and farming are all part of Ireland's climate equation.

The key expert who authored the report, Andrew Doyle, "The absence of any assessment in the Green Paper of the potential for increased afforestation in the context of climate change is a major disappointment."

“It fails to address adequately – and as a higher priority – the key issue for the forestry sector; how carbon sequestration can contribute to EU and national climate change strategies."

The committee recommended the bringing forward of an EU directive to establish a timeline and framework for the creation of a national programme for forest carbon offsets. They also said there should be more specific recommendations for increased EU co-financing for afforestation through the EU’s Rural Development Programme in the years after 2012.