The deal will allow 100,000 tonnes of beef to be exported across 4,000 miles to the EU increasing shipping emissions. More rainforests will need to be cleared to meet this demand, putting EU priorities at odds with the environmental significance attached to these forests.
The farming lobby are now starting to see through the duplicitous nature of the EU. Perhaps this is the beginning of a much needed examination of Ireland's relationship with the EU and the climate agenda that drives much of Irish politics.
I do not think they will take the Paris Climate Accord seriously at all. They will do whatever suits themselves. Once this deal is over the line, we will pay the consequences for that beef coming in.
It goes to show you the double standards, the double speak that they would allow that volume of beef come in. There is already almost close to 300,000t coming in already and you hear stories about rainforests cut down week on week to facilitate more agricultural production in Brazil.
If they were serious about climate change, they would have found some other way around it other than bringing in that volume of beef. [Farmers Journal].
Leaving aside the carbon footprint of transportation from Brazil to Europe, this trade deal is a huge double whammy/own goal for those trying to reduce carbon emissions. This is because Irish Beef has far lower emissions per kilo than Brazilian Beef and on the other hand Brazilian Rainforest, the lungs of the world, is far more effective as a carbon sink and supports an amazing biodiversity. So it would be hard to think of a worse trade deal/climate change policy than this. Did the trade deal negotiators/climate change policy makers lose all sense of reason?
ReplyDeleteMaybe the Irish Farmers Association and the Farming Community in general will now clearly see how blindly they have been led up the Global Warming/Climate Change garden path and how infinitesimally small the 'intermittent' renewable energy contribution is. With all the talk about 'Smart Technology' and 'Progress', how 'Smart' is it to be chopping down natural carbon sink forest to make way for wind turbines and solar panels and for Beef farming in Brazil?
Before Extinction Rebellion there was Climate Change and before that Global Warming and before that Save the Rain Forest. Seems like the complete 'uniqueness' of Premium Quality, Grass Fed, Low Carbon Irish Beef and the Brazilian RainForest are both completely sacrificial when it comes to the key political objective of keeping Brazil signed up to the Paris Climate Accord Agreement.
'....and that it ties Brazil into a commitment not to pull out of the Paris climate change agreement.'(Phil Hogan the outgoing EU Commissioner for Agriculture from Ireland)
https://www.rte.ie/news/2019/0629/1059154-beef-mercosur-european-union/
Climate change is simply a license for wealth transfer from the poor to the rich. The fig leaf or sustainability is sparse, whether it is the slash and burn of the rain forest, Irish wind farms or Balkan hydro.
ReplyDeleteMore than 3000 new hydro-electric dams and diversions are either proposed or in the process of being built in Albania, Macedonia and Bosnia Hertzogovina to satisfy wealthy northern European green investors.
https://blueheart.patagonia.com/discover/
From Indonesian palm oil to meet the EU biodiesel directive, Brazilian rain forest destruction, electricity exporting wind farms in bankrupt Greece and hydro in the Balkans, Europe is no slouch in destroying the environment and local communities of those who cannot defend themselves.
Phil Hogan accuses the IFA of spreading misinformation.
ReplyDeleteHow can he say this when only the other day the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said an economic assessment was needed and now Phil Hogan says that a costed economic analysis has been done?
Also Phil Hogan is talking about the impact on the EU Beef producing sector as a whole rather than the actual direct impact on the Irish Beef Sector.
And what is that 1% of? 1% of today's market share or 1% of any remaining future impacted EU Beef producing market? Does that 1% include the future Brazilian Beef share of the EU market therefore distorting the extent of the impact?
Ireland is a big beef producer in Europe (pre Brexit) so therefore the impact will be much greater than 1% on Irish Beef producers.
So is a proper comprehensive cost benefit analysis of the impact on Irish Beef Producers actually available? And if so Phil Hogan should make it immediately available to the Irish Beef Producers Industry for proper in-depth analysis because we all know that there are Statistics and then there are Statistics! Or even misinformation!
'..."Our proper, costed economic analysis shows that the impact on the EU beef sector would be around 1pc or less of production," he said. He insisted safeguards for farmers are built into the deal.' (Phil Hogan)
https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/hogans-eu-job-in-jeopardy-as-fg-fears-beef-deal-fallout-38280905.html
'Leo Varadkar says there will need to be an economic assessment before a decision is made.'
https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/varadkar-ireland-will-vote-against-mercosur-deal-if-it-proves-to-be-bad-for-jobs-933900.html
So what safeguards and for which farmers have been built into the EU-Mercosur Trade Deal?
And what kind of 'promise' exactly is on offer to Irish Beef farmers? And would it be wanted and would any such promise be kept?
'...the Taoiseach has promised to protect beef farmers "whatever happens".'
Check out my You Tube videos Val Martin You Tube - Real True Education - Not fake news. https://metro.co.uk/2019/10/17/angry-commuters-drag-xr-protesters-off-tube-try-glue-10933003/
ReplyDelete