Two broad options for climate change legislation in Northern Ireland have been set out by DAERA.

The first is to introduce a law which includes targets for achieving "net zero” within Northern Ireland by 2050.

The second option is to set targets which help Northern Ireland “contribute fairly” to the UK’s overall aim of achieving net zero by 2050.

“This law would have targets for Northern Ireland to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to a level which meets its fair share of achieving overall UK net zero by 2050,” DAERA stated.

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The DAERA document points out that it is unlikely Northern Ireland will be able to achieve net zero by 2050 “due to the characteristics of our society, economy and infrastructure”.

A public consultation on the matter opened for responses on Tuesday and closes on 1 February 2021.

The department is aiming to get the new climate change bill pushed through Stormont before the next Assembly election in 2022.

Read more in this week’s Irish Farmers Journal and at www.ifj.ie/ni.