A compromise is close to being agreed on new climate change legislation for NI, according to DAERA Minister Edwin Poots.

Talks between DAERA officials and the Green Party began after two separate climate change bills were introduced at Stormont.

A private member’s bill from Green Party MLA Clare Bailey aims for NI to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, while a separate bill from Minister Poots includes a target to cut emissions by at least 82% by 2050.

“The basis of a compromise has been agreed. I wrote to Clare to seek her agreement on the proposed way forward, and I await a response,” Minister Poots told MLAs this week.

I want to be clear: based on current evidence, I cannot support, nor will I agree to, a net zero target

However, details of the agreement remain unclear and during a debate on the DAERA bill at Stormont on Monday, both parties still appeared to be far apart on emissions targets.

Minister Poots said he would not sign up to the Green Party’s net zero target for NI as it was not recommended by experts on the UK government’s Climate Change Committee.

“I want to be clear: based on current evidence, I cannot support, nor will I agree to, a net zero target,” he said.

As it stands, the Green Party cannot support such unambitious legislation

The DUP politician also cited DAERA analysis which found it would cost £4bn for NI to cut emissions by at least 82%, but net zero would cost £30bn.

However, Clare Bailey remained critical of the headline target in the DAERA bill, describing it as “simply inadequate”.

“As it stands, the Green Party cannot support such unambitious legislation,” said the south Belfast MLA.

Farm impact

During the three-hour debate, several MLAs raised concerns about the impact that a net zero target for NI would have on agriculture.

Minister Poots highlighted recent analysis by consultancy firm KPMG which found that reaching net zero by 2045 could require an 86% cut in cattle and sheep numbers on NI farms.

We support the sentiments and broad principles of the Bill but would very much like to see action taken

Despite the KPMG report provoking an angry response from local farmers, some MLAs remain supportive of a net zero target, including representatives from Sinn Féin and the SDLP.

However, Sinn Féin’s Philip McGuigan said his party would not obstruct the passage of the DAERA bill through Stormont.

“We support the sentiments and broad principles of the Bill but would very much like to see action taken and amendments made so that it is strengthened significantly,” he said.

While most comments raised by Alliance Party MLAs related to how the DAERA bill is implemented and governed, Ulster Unionist MLA Steve Aiken was clear that his party supported both climate bills, including the 82% target.

“We hope that, rather than proceeding with the two bills, we can merge them to make an effective, durable and practical piece of legislation,” Aiken said.

MLAs question how methane is measured

Stormont’s agriculture committee has written to DAERA to ask if a more accurate system can be used in NI for assessing the global warming effect of different greenhouse gases.

It comes after the committee were told in a recent briefing that GWP100, the system of comparing greenhouse gases which is most widely used at present, does not accurately account for methane’s short lifespan.

Methane, which is emitted by ruminant livestock, breaks down after 12 years, but carbon dioxide, which is released after burning fossil fuels, stays in the atmosphere for centuries.

There is growing interest in new emission metrics, including the recently developed GWP* system, to reflect methane’s different global warming effect more accurately.