DAERA have today launched a sixteen-week public consultation period on Northern Ireland’s draft Climate Action Plan 2023-2027.

The Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) passed in 2022 requires government to publish a Climate Action Plan every five years with the first Climate Action plan to have been published by 6^th June 2024.

NIEL CEO, Max Bryant has welcomed the launch of the consultation. ‘We acknowledge that the document rightly recognises the important role key stakeholders, from across all sectors, need to play in helping to reduce our carbon emissions. He added, NIEL would therefore encourage the environment sector and other stakeholders to provide their input into the design and implementation of this long awaited but much needed plan if we are to take a significant first step on our journey to net zero. He concluded, for our part, NIEL will of course be liaising with our membership in formulating a detailed response to the Climate Action Plan proposals once we have reviewed the document’.

DAERA has co-ordinated the publication of the draft Climate Action Plan, with each Northern Ireland department identifying policies and proposals to reduce emissions and ensure that the carbon budget is achieved. The draft Action Plan sets out 52 policies and proposals to reduce emissions across nine sectors: energy production and supply; transport; business and industrial processes; residential buildings; public buildings; waste management; agriculture; land use, land use change and forestry; and fisheries.

In December 2024, the Executive agreed that for the period of this plan, 2023-2027, greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced by 33% on average, to set us on the right path to net zero and contribute to global climate targets. Despite the delay in the publication of the first Climate Action Plan, DAERA believes that if all the policies and proposals are implemented at the pace and scale detailed in this plan, the first carbon budget 2023-2027 can be met.

DAERA are planning a series of stakeholder engagement events during the consultation period. These will take place both online and in person across Northern Ireland. The consultation runs until 8 October 2025. Details are available on the DAERA website:

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