1. Outline
This is a letter from Lord Deben, Chairman of the CCC, to Edwin Poots MLA, Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs following the approval of a new Climate Change Bill by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
2. Key messages
The CCC writes to highlight the implications of the new legislation while offering full support for its successful achievement.
- The new NI target of Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 goes well beyond the CCC’s recommendation, but the CCC commends this new ambition. The priority is now to deliver the statutory goal.
- The implication of the new 2050 target is that Northern Ireland must outperform all of five of the Net Zero Pathways that the CCC developed in its advice on the UK’s Sixth Carbon Budget, requiring a major step-up in policy and rapid progress over the 2020s.
- The CCC welcomes the ambition of the new Bill. With strong policies across the economy, rapid progress can be made in this decade. However, Northern Ireland is already playing catch-up with the rest of the UK in many areas. These new targets will quickly lose credibility if the policy focus does not shift quickly to implementation and successful delivery of outcomes.
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