policy

Our policy position on Green Growth

Green growth is based on the idea that investments can support our economy while also helping to improve our environment and reduce harmful carbon emissions.

Current Performance

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Northern Ireland has the lowest green growth index score of any devolved region in the UK, given its heavy dependence on jobs in carbon intensive sectors. Around 5,000 people currently work in the green economy.

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Around 44% of electricity in Northern Ireland is generated from renewable sources, manly from onshore wind.

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The energy sector alone could create 13,000 new jobs but to realise its green economy potential, Northern Ireland needs to develop its skills base and increase investment to around £1.3 billion per year by 2030 to support UK Net Zero efforts.

Current Policy

The Green Growth Strategy is the Northern Ireland Executive's multi-decade strategy for tackling the climate crisis, by balancing climate action with the need for a clean, resilient environment and economy.

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Our view

  • We welcome efforts by the Executive to decouple economic growth from resource use and pollution as an important first step in decarbonising the economy. However, green growth characterised by infinite economic growth is not a credible long-term strategy for sustainability. 
  • Without strong economic reform, built around the principles of a sustainable economy rather than green growth, efficiency improvements will struggle to offset the scale and speed of economic growth. 
  • As well as delivering improvements in technology and efficiency, we also need to tackle consumption by reducing demand for energy, transport, land-use and consumables. 
  • Environmental costs should be built into market pricing, otherwise there will continue to be a tension between profit making and environmental protection. 
  • Growth of GDP should not be our primary measure of economic success as it fails to account for income inequality and pollution.

Changes needed

Reduce consumption

  • As the business case for reducing consumption is poor, governments and communities need to take charge

Metrics

  • Use wellbeing as the primary measure of societal success instead of GDP which ignores income inequality and environmental degradation

Market based instruments

  • Build environmental costs into market pricing. Alone, environmental taxes are simply permits enabling more resource depletion and pollution

Need some advice?

We're here to help. Get in touch if you'd like some help and advice for taking sustainability action.

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