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Cattle in Tattraconnaghty, Co Tyrone. Photo by Kenneth Allen, Wikicommons
NORTHERN Ireland could fail to meet its legally-binding climate targets due to the lack of a devolved government, a leading expert has warned.
Under the landmark Climate Change Act passed by the assembly last year, the north must reduce its carbon dioxide emissions to ‘net zero’ by 2050 as part of efforts to combat global warming.
But Chris Stark, chief executive of the UK’s Climate Change Committee (CCC), which advises government on emissions targets, said that little progress has been made since the Act passed, mainly due to the lack of an Executive.
Northern Ireland has not had a fully-functioning government for more than a year after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) left the Executive over the Northern Ireland Protocol - a post-Brexit customs arrangement.
Mr Stark told The Detail that farmers are being left in the dark about the seismic changes needed in agriculture - including the need to slash livestock numbers by at least a third by 2050.
The CCC said it will be difficult to meet the net zero target and has suggested that livestock numbers may even need to be halved if other industries do not meet their emissions targets.
Agriculture - Northern Ireland’s biggest industry - accounts for 28% of the north’s greenhouse gas emissions.
In a report published last month, the CCC said that in order to meet emissions targets livestock numbers must be slashed.
Mr Stark said the lack of an Executive is seriously hampering progress on achieving net zero targets and without one “there really isn’t much hope of getting on track”.
“It’s hard, sadly, to point to many areas of progress,” he said.
“This will only work if it has the support of farmers because they are ultimately the stewards of the land.
“There’s a big gap between where we are today and where we need to be to get to these targets.”
Chris Stark, chief executive of the UK’s Climate Change Committee. Picture courtesy of the CCC
Mr Stark said the challenges facing the agricultural sector are not being clearly communicated to farmers in Northern Ireland.
“I’m not of the view that these targets can just be presented as just high-ambition, ‘stretch’ targets, and that it doesn’t matter if we don’t meet them - because they’re legal obligations,” he said.
“And I don’t want to see the law undermined in that way.
“So, if Net Zero (by 2050) is the goal, this is the path you’ve got to follow. And it has very deep implications for society, and particularly for agricultural production.”
Moves to enact climate change measures have proved politically divisive in Europe, most notably in the Netherlands where farmers’ protest party, the BBB, won its first major elections last month.
Farmers in Northern Ireland have been warned for several years that livestock numbers need to be reduced.
However, they said that in the absence of an Executive no practical guidelines have been drawn up on how herd numbers can be cut.
Under the Climate Change Act, the first set of plans on how to meet emissions targets are due to be published in December.
However, a spokesman for the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs admitted that, in the absence of a devolved government, the “Civil Service will not have all the answers to the challenges presented in the CCC advice”.
He said all Northern Ireland government departments are working on proposals to present to government ministers, if and when the Executive is restored, “with the aim of preparing for a consultation in the near future”.
William Taylor from Farmers for Action. Picture courtesy of Paul Taylor
William Taylor, coordinator of Farmers for Action, said farmers are not being given a fair chance to meet legally-binding net zero targets.
He said that without legislation to protect food prices, farmers cannot make the changes needed.
"Until we have legislation on farmgate prices, it is going to be impossible for farmers to meet their climate change aims,” he said.
He said Northern Ireland may eventually meet its targets but “only because a lot of farmers will be going out of business”.
Ulster Farmers’ Union president, David Brown, said the CCC’s suggestion that livestock numbers must be slashed is “extremely disheartening and frustrating”.
“The potential reductions are unacceptable in their current context and will have huge implications for the Northern Ireland agri-food industry and wider economy,” he said.
“We recognise agriculture is a key source of emissions in Northern Ireland, but it’s vital that a balance is struck between reducing emissions and feeding people while coping with a changing climate.”