Climate change: NI-specific bill to go before assembly

Electric cars will have to become the norm within the next decade

Northern Ireland's first ever piece of climate legislation will be introduced to the assembly on Monday.

The bill, drafted by academics and environmentalists, proposes a net zero target of 2045.

It also suggests measures to address water quality and biodiversity loss.

It will begin its journey through the legislative process ahead of a departmental climate bill which is expected to propose a different outcome.

That bill is still being worked up by Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and suggests at least an 82% cut in Northern Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

It is not yet clear which piece of legislation might take precedence.

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Until now, Northern Ireland has been the only part of the UK without its own climate legislation, though it is contributing to wider UK reduction targets.

The legislation being introduced on Monday was drafted by an organisation called Climate Coalition NI and is being taken forward as a private members bill in the name of Green Party leader Clare Bailey.

It has the backing of Sinn Féin, the Ulster Unionists, Alliance, the SDLP along with a number of independents - only the DUP has not signed up.

That means it should have the necessary political support to facilitate its passage through the various stages.

Tomorrow is the first reading of the bill, a technical stage which sees its formal introduction to the assembly.

The first major test will be the second reading when MLAs get to debate the bill and vote on whether it progresses to committee stage for detailed examination.

There is likely to be much discussion around the level of the proposed cuts and the date by which they are to be achieved.

Last year the government's climate advisory body, the Committee on Climate Change, suggested an 82% reduction by 2050 would be an equitable contribution for Northern Ireland to the UK's net zero ambition.

It said the economic reliance on agriculture, Northern Ireland's biggest emitting sector, would make it difficult to go further and faster without a significant reduction in agricultural output.

Last week an assembly scrutiny committee was told that the officials hoped to have draft proposals for the department's climate bill ready for executive consideration shortly.