Supporters of a climate change bill which includes a legally binding target of net-zero emissions in NI by 2045 have no plan for how it will be achieved, a key architect of the bill has acknowledged.

“This is a framework bill which sets out high level structures and targets required to tackle climate change in NI, but it does not provide the detail about exactly how it will be achieved,” said Malachy Campbell from NI Environment Link.

Speaking to MLAs last week, Campbell carefully pulled quotes from reports by the Climate Change Committee (CCC), the expert group who advise the UK government on climate policy.

He repeatedly used a line from a CCC report last year which stated that there was “no purely technical reason” why NI cannot reach net zero.

However, he didn’t mention the next paragraph which states net zero would require “a substantial reduction in output from NI’s livestock farming sector that goes beyond the stretching scenarios we have analysed”.

It was a point picked up DUP MLA William Irwin who highlighted that in every realistic scenario which the CCC has studied, NI could not reach net-zero emissions.

Instead, the CCC recommends that NI aims to cut emissions by at least 82% by 2050 and the group of experts have developed a plan for how this could be achieved.

The 82% target is contained within a different bill taken forward by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots which is still awaiting approval by the NI Executive.

Malachy Campbell suggested that the CCC analysis is incomplete and wider use of low input agriculture, such as agroecological farming methods, could allow NI to reach net zero. “Obviously more research is needed on that,” the environmental campaigner acknowledged.

Campbell also appeared to ignore other advice from the CCC. Recently, CCC chair Lord Deben recommended that NI should aim for net zero carbon dioxide emissions, which would mean separate targets are set for other greenhouse gases, such as methane from livestock farming.

“NI Environment Link would argue it is essential that NI sets a target of net zero for all greenhouse gases,” Campbell maintained.