Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022
In 2022, the Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) received Royal Assent. The Act creates a target for net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with bridging targets including at least a 48% reduction in net emissions by 2030. More information on the Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 can be found here.
Climate NI has developed the following short summary of key requirements of the Act:
- Five-yearly Carbon Budgets
- A carbon budget is the maximum total amount of emissions permitted for a budgetary period (5 years). The first three carbon budgets are 2023-27, 2028-32 and 2033-37. Each carbon budget must be set at a level that is consistent with meeting emissions targets.
- If a carbon budget is not met, the Act requires DAERA (with the assistance of other departments) to publish a report on the policies and proposals needed to compensate for the excess emissions in subsequent budgetary periods.
- Climate Action Plans
- The Act requires the development and publication of 5-yearly Climate Action Plans. Climate Action Plans are the key delivery vehicle for meeting carbon budgets. Climate Action Plans include the following:
- Policies and proposals from all NI departments,
- Annual greenhouse gas and air quality targets,
- Soil quality and biodiversity targets.
- Public Body Reporting on Climate Change
- The Climate Change (Reporting Bodies) Regulations (NI) 2024 place climate change reporting duties on specified public bodies:
- 40 bodies are required to report on their greenhouse gas emissions, as well as their plans and progress in reducing these emissions.
- The bodies will also report on what they plan to do about tackling their risks and impacts from climate change.
- The regulations require the specified public bodies to submit the first of their 3-yearly reports on mitigation by 31 October 2025, and the first of their 5-yearly reports on adaptation by 31 March 2026.
- Read more about the Climate Change (Reporting Bodies) Regulations (NI) 2024 here.
- Sectoral Plans
- In order to meet the overall goal of net zero by 2050, the departments in Northern Ireland are tasked with publishing long-term plans for different sectors of the economy over. These plans, known as sectoral plans, must also support a just transition.
- Sectoral plans set out how specific sectors will contribute to the targets in the Act. There will be sectoral plans for:
- Energy
- Industrial processes
- Transport
- Infrastructure
- Waste management
- Agriculture
- Fisheries
- Just Transition Commission
- The Act places a duty on DAERA to establish a Just Transition Commission for Northern Ireland. The Just Transition Commission will oversee implementation of the just transition elements of the Act and provide advice to Northern Ireland departments on how to ensure that all proposals, policies, strategies and plans required under the Act comply with the just transition principle.
- Just transition, in the context of the Act includes:
- tackling inequality,
- supporting the creation of secure green jobs,
- supporting people employed in high carbon industries with the transition,
- supporting a transition to a green economy with net-zero carbon investment and infrastructure.
- Northern Ireland Climate Commissioner
UK Climate Change Act 2008
The Climate Change Act 2008 establishes a legally binding framework for the UK Government to address and combat climate change.
The Climate Change Act commits the UK Government to:
- Achieve net zero emissions by 2050. This means that all UK GHG emissions would be either reduced to zero or offset through natural or technological measures.
- Assess the risks and opportunities from climate change by producing a UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) every five years.
The UK government produces a National Adaptation Programme (NAP) every five years, setting out their objectives, proposals and policies in response to the risks and opportunities identified in the CCRA.
Read more on the UK Climate Change Act here.
