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June 9, 2021 12:38 pm
Ambitions to upgrade Northern Ireland’s recommended 82% reduction in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions to net-zero will cost an additional £900 million a year to achieve.
Civil servants warned the Stormont Agriculture Committee last week, the difference between at least 82% reduction and net-zero for Northern Ireland would actually only correspond to a 0.73% additional reduction in the UK’s overall emissions while irreversibly damaging the NI’s economy.
Cost to be borne by the Assembly
Colin Breen, DAERA’s director of environmental policy, explained on the basis of current evidence, it was likely the net-zero target outlined in the private member’s Climate Change Bill would be “highly damaging to the local economy” and would involve simply off-setting emissions with carbon credits rather than any real reduction.
No ‘special arrangements’ for the agriculture sector
One of the biggest criticisms of the Private Member’s Bill is that experts warn the region’s agri-food industry will need to be scaled back in order to meet the net-zero target. However, MLAs heard that neither bill will include ‘special arrangements’ to assist farmers in getting to their targets.
“The Bill that we [DAERA] have drafted and, indeed, the Private Member’s Bill, will require other policies to be made in other sections,” Breen explained.
“Once you start opening up primary legislation to assisting farmers, for example, it is open season on amendments to assist every other sector. It would take a very long process, over several years, to get in all the amendments for all the sectors.