policy

Our policy position on The climate crisis

The climate crisis threatens all aspects of our lives. To stop global warming, we urgently need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero, where the sum of human-caused CO2 emissions and removals is zero.

Current Performance

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Greenhouse gas emissions in Northern Ireland have reduced by around 26% since 1990, largely driven by the power’s sector transition to gas. This compares to a fall in emissions of around 52% in the UK.

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Agriculture is the largest emitting sector (responsible for 29.1% of emissions), followed by domestic transport (responsible for 18.1% of emissions).

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Northern Ireland produced the equivalent of 11.2 tonnes of CO2 per person compared with a UK figure of 7.1 tonnes of CO2 per person.

Current Policy

The Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 includes a net-zero target by 2050 as well as interim targets of a 48% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and a 77% reduction by 2040, both compared to 1990 levels.

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Our view

  • We welcome the ambition of the Climate Change Act and commend the NI target of Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The priority now is to deliver statutory goals through appropriate levels of funding and secondary legislation.
  • As well as delivering improvements in technology and efficiency, we also need to reduce demand for energy, buildings, transport and land-use (including food).
  • With strong economic policy reform, built around the principles of a green economy - rather than green growth - rapid progress can be made this decade.
  • The net zero target is unlikely to be met without significant reductions in methane emissions, which will likely need to exceed the limit of 46% by 2050 set in the Act.

Changes needed

Agriculture
  • Widespread adoption of low-carbon farming practices and productivity
  • Establishment of agricultural carbon budgets with financial incentives to limit carbon
  • Behaviour change programmes to reduce meat and dairy consumption by at least 20% by 2030

Transport
  • Reduce the need for travel through healthy density in planning
  • Increase investment in active and public transport infrastructure and behaviour change initiatives
  • Increase investment in public and residential EV charging infrastructure

Buildings

  • Ban fossil fuel heating systems in new buildings from 2025. Ban the sale of fossil fuel heating systems in all buildings by 2030
  • New homes to be zero-carbon by 2030, with provisions for tackling embodied and operational carbon emissions
  • Investment in retrofitting of existing buildings to improve energy performance
  • Planning provisions against building practices that are not climate-resilient

Energy generation

  • Deployment of renewable electricity technology, with priority given to offshore wind, solar and community energy
  • Green hydrogen and biomethane to be prioritised for applications where electrification is not feasible

Land use

  • Restoration of Northern Ireland’s degraded peatland 
  • Ban the sale of peat for fuel and horticultural use
  • Increased native tree cover with regulations governing tree planting that optimise benefits for climate, biodiversity and society
  • Rights of Nature legislation conferring legal rights to ecosystems and species

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