The Lie of the Land

Description

A passionate case for reimagining Irish agriculture in
the age of climate change

Ireland has tended to think of itself as a ‘Goldilocks’ country: not too hot, not too
cold, and well positioned to ride out the climate emergency. But this is a
fantasy: the effects of climate change in Ireland will be profound, and at the
moment we’re not doing nearly enough about it. That’s the bad news. The good
news is that Ireland has the wherewithal to dramatically cut its emissions while
making itself far more resilient. This book shows how it can be done.

Above all, we must reimagine the ways in which we use the land. Agriculture
accounts for 38 per cent of Ireland’s greenhouse emissions – and just 7 per cent
of gross national income. As Gibbons shows, Ireland’s dramatic shift towards
the most polluting food sectors – driven by a small number of agribusiness
giants and facilitated by the state – benefits the few while imposing huge costs
on the many. It doesn’t have to be this way, and Gibbons, who grew up on an
arable farm, shows how we can embrace a low-emissions farming model while
preserving farmers’ livelihoods, making the countryside a better place to live, and
delivering something Ireland conspicuously lacks: food security.

The Lie of the Land is a bracing critique of the bad decisions that have put
Ireland into such a vulnerable position, and a devastating dissection of the
wishful thinking and outright dishonesty that have propped up the status quo in
Irish agriculture. It also offers an inspiring vision of how – through a revolution in
farming, development of renewable energy (including our vast offshore wind
resource), and a dramatic acceleration of moves to decarbonize transport and
housing – we can prepare for the new realities of the climate crisis.
AN IRISH OBSESSION: For centuries, the Irish have been obsessed with
‘the land’: who owns it and how it is used. The Lie of the Land puts farming
practices and land use at the heart of its look at Ireland’s options in the age
of climate change.

AN IRISHOBSESSION: For centuries, the Irish have been obsessed with
‘the land’: who owns it and how it is used. The Lie of the Land puts farming
practices and land use at the heart of its look at Ireland’s options in the age
of climate change

THE LEADING AUTHORITY: John Gibbons, who has been writing about
climate change in Ireland for over a decade, is recognized as Ireland’s preeminent communicator and advocate on climate.