The leadership of the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has decided to organise a protest outside Stormont on Tuesday 1 February in a final attempt to warn MLAs about the dangers of adopting unachievable climate change targets in Northern Ireland (NI).

The event is set to coincide with a debate in the Stormont Assembly chamber on the proposed climate change bill taken forward by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots on behalf of the Stormont Executive.

Despite it being an Executive bill, not all parties and MLAs are onside with a headline target that NI must cut carbon emissions by at least 82% by 2050 as part of an overall UK net-zero target by that date.

Amendments

A number of amendments to that particular clause have been put forward in recent days.

A group of Alliance MLAs (John Blair, Andrew Muir and Stewart Dickson) as well as three Sinn Fein MLAs (Philip McGuigan, Caoimhe Archibald and Declan McAleer) have tabled separate amendments that would essentially achieve the same thing – NI would have to reach net zero (not 82%) by 2050.

In addition, Green Party MLA Clare Bailey has tabled amendments that would effectively bring the Executive bill into line with her own private member's bill, which would require NI to achieve net zero by 2045.

All of these amendments ignore the advice from DAERA officials and from experts on the UK Climate Change Committee (CCC).

Last June, CCC chair Lord Deben warned MLAs that there “is no credible path” for NI to reach net zero by 2050 and said that asking people to do things they can’t do is “morally wrong”.

KPMG report

Following that, a report undertaken by consultancy firm KPMG, which was published in August, highlighted that the NI livestock industry would need to be virtually eliminated if net zero targets are to be met.

What often gets forgotten in this debate is that the 82% figure in the Executive bill is essentially a recognition that methane produced by livestock cannot be cut to zero, unless those livestock are removed entirely.

Lobbying

After spending weeks alongside the NI Agricultural Producers’ Association (NIAPA) trying to lobby local politicians about the dangers of a net-zero target, it is understood that the UFU leadership have been alarmed to see these various amendments coming forward.

It is an organisation that very rarely asks its members to protest, which underlines the seriousness of the situation the industry now faces.

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