NORTHERN IRELAND THIS week became one step closer to finalising its own climate legislation, but there are still some hurdles to overcome before it aligns with the rest of Europe.
Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK to not have its own climate legislation, but it does fall under UK-wide targets which include a requirement to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050.
The EU has similar legally binding goals in place which formed the basis of Ireland’s updated Climate Action Plan released last year. Ireland must slash its emissions in half by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
On Tuesday, MLAs voted to set a target of net-zero emissions by 2050 for Northern Ireland as part of amendments to a Climate Change Bill working its way through Stormont.
This was passed before NI First Minister Paul Givan announced he would step down from his post, automatically triggering the resignation of Michelle O’Neill as Deputy First Minister.
This has left the Northern Ireland Executive without the ability to take significant policy decisions but O’Neill said that climate legislation is among the priorities to get over the line before the Assembly is due to be dissolved next month.
She said party leaders met on Friday to “plan ways to get bills through in a quick step way” including other legislation on sexual offences and trafficking, integrated education and welfare mitigation.
“Chief whips will now meet to progress this work,” the Sinn Féin MLA said.
The NI government is currently in the process of considering two climate change Bills – one put forward by Green Party NI leader Clare Bailey and one by DUP agriculture and environment minister Edwin Poots.
Poots’ Bill has progressed the furthest and was the proposed legislation debated this week.
Director of Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland James Orr said the original Bill proposed by Poots was “incredibly weak and incredibly flawed” with no inclusion of a net-zero target.
“From our point of view, we can’t act quick enough on climate change so a 2050 target just appears too far away. But at least it’s a net-zero target now,” Orr told The Journal.
What surprised me this week in the Assembly was a quality of debate that I have to say I’ve never heard before, and a real commitment to things like independent environmental governance and climate justice.
An amendment to include a net-zero target by 2050 in Poots’ Bill was passed by 50 votes to 38 on Tuesday.
Minister Poots has suggested that he will push for the agriculture sector to be exempt from this target and he hit out at “stupidity” after a majority of MLAs voted for the amendment.
Next steps
The Bill must pass through two further Assembly stages before it goes for Royal Assent – the UK equivalent of being signed into law by the president.
The draft legislation can still be amended at these further stages. If it is not finalised by 28 March when the Stormont Assembly is scheduled to be dissolved ahead of a 5 May election, the process will have to start over when the next Executive is formed.
“We just need to accelerate the attention to this over the next few weeks,” Orr said. “We’re really, really close on this. We’re so close to getting it over the line.”
The Bill will be considered by the Assembly again on Monday.
Assembly members this week also voted for a more ambitious 10-year renewable energy target under the Poots Bill.
The amendment would set a target of 80% of electricity consumption sourced from renewable sources by 2030.
Another amendment, requiring the Department for the Economy to publish sector specific energy consumption plans, also passed.
Green Party NI leader Clare Bailey said she was delighted that the net-zero by 2050 target was passed by MLAs but said there are a lot of other issues to look at as well.
She said her focus at this time is on securing amendments to Poots’ Bill, rather than her own, which is yet to have its consideration stage.
UUP MLA Steve Aiken said earlier this week that there is a “degree of absurdity” in the consideration of two separate climate change bills at Stormont.
“What we should be doing is debating one climate emergency bill because that is the situation we’re in,” he said.
Farmers and environmentalists held separate demonstrations outside NI Parliament Buildings on Tuesday ahead of the debates on the draft legislation.
Additional reporting by Press Association.
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