Irish farmers will be protesting with climate change activists Extinction Rebellion (XRI) in a demonstration today (Friday 25 June) outside the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in Dublin.
Negotiations on the EU’s Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) are expected to end this weekend but XRI is calling for positive policy change and a fair transition.
Farmer and campaigner Gerry Loftus said: “We must have a proper livelihood for farmers, we must be climate and environmentally-friendly in doing so. Farming organisations need to realise this affects every human being on the planet.”
In its statement XRI claimed the CAP had “consistently failed to reward farming practices that are compatible with climate action.”
The protest group believes that Government and industry plans have forced farmers into intensifying their farms to stay in profit, putting huge pressure on small farms.
“Even for independent farmers who are making a decent wage, climate change will radically change their business models in the coming years. Extinction Rebellion will continue protesting the unfair EU CAP, which has 80 per cent of the taxpayers’ money going to only 20 per cent of the farmers,” it concluded.
LSL News.