To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs what efforts have been made to quantify the level of carbon emissions offsetting being achieved by the agricultural and farming sectors.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from sources within farms are reported in the NI GHG inventory which forms part of the UK GHG inventory submission to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The UK GHG inventory is compiled and maintained by a consortium led by Ricardo Energy & Environment under contract to the UK Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy.

The inventory is conducted in accordance with international protocols and methodological guidance and uses the best available data from UK and international research for each emission source. Estimates of emissions sources and sinks for forest, croplands, grasslands, wetlands and harvested wood products are included in the Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry sector.

Accurately quantifying carbon stocks in our farmed landscape is complex and a body of scientific research is undertaken to improve estimates and reduce uncertainties. Ongoing examples include: work by Forest Research on Quantifying the Sustainable Forestry Carbon Cycle which is nearing completion and; work by the Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute to more accurately quantify the carbon sequestration potential of improved grasslands in NI.

Northern Ireland Environment Agency work with partners on the development, implementation and funding of peatland projects through DAERA Environment Fund, current INTERREG funding, and the Environmental Farming Scheme. This includes projects that better inform our understanding of the carbon stock and GHG emissions of NI peatlands; actively restore NI peatlands; and, identify the carbon and biodiversity assets of farms across Northern Ireland (Nature Friendly Farming Network project).

The College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) has recently carried out a body of work reviewing carbon calculators that could be used at farm scale. CAFRE is also working to create a holistic carbon balance across their farms and as part of this, a LiDAR survey to quantify the carbon storage and estimated sequestration in CAFRE’s hedgerows and woodland has been carried out.