Business

From leader to laggard?

In Belfast, schoolchildren have been striking on Fridays to demand that politicians take climate action seriously. Photo: Hugh Russell
In Belfast, schoolchildren have been striking on Fridays to demand that politicians take climate action seriously. Photo: Hugh Russell In Belfast, schoolchildren have been striking on Fridays to demand that politicians take climate action seriously. Photo: Hugh Russell

THE UK has now passed legislation committing it to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. It is clearly positioning itself to be one of the global leaders in addressing climate breakdown: more ambitious than many, although some way behind countries such as Bhutan and Norway, who have either reached net-zero or committed to it much sooner.

There are a variety of approaches to addressing climate breakdown, ranging from European targets of 20 per cent renewable energy by 2020, five-year Carbon Budgets in the UK, and our Northern Ireland renewable electricity target of 40 per cent.

Ultimately each of these targets is intended to contribute to an international target of limiting average global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. It’s important to note, though, that even this temperature rise would lead to sea-level increases, global ecosystem shifts and expose 14 per cent of the world’s people to severe heat at least once every five years.

Northern Ireland has nearly reached its renewable electricity target, ahead of the Republic of Ireland, and we have a higher proportion of renewable electricity than the UK as a whole. Not only that, but the significant increase in wind energy has actually reduced consumer bills by pushing down wholesale electricity costs.

Reaching a target ahead of time and putting money in the pockets of Northern Irish electricity consumers in the process is undoubtedly one of the major policy successes in Northern Ireland over the last decade.

The next challenge is a rapid scaling up of ambition. The UK target of 100 per cent carbon reduction is important because it will require action on emissions from every sector, including heat, transport and agriculture.

Last month’s report by the UK government’s advisers, the Committee for Climate Change, outlined how to make progress towards a net zero target. Scotland, with its natural resources, progressive energy policies and government support could reach net-zero by 2045. In Wales, the committee recommended a 95 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050.

Northern Ireland, however, is very much the weak link: even the ‘further ambition’ target is only a 78-80 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050. This appears to be a result of our proportionally higher emissions from agriculture and land use, and less ability to develop carbon capture and storage technologies.

However, our industry is committed to achieving 70 per cent renewable electricity by 2030. We believe that setting this target would be a serious demonstration of our commitment to tackling climate change. We have the resources and the technology, but we need support and most of all, we need political action.

Since the beginning of the year hundreds of thousands of children have walked out of school to protest against inaction on climate change. In Belfast, schoolchildren have been striking on Fridays to demand that our politicians take climate action seriously.

We will let them down if we become the malingerer of the UK’s climate agenda.

What must be done, and done rapidly, is to focus our society on how to develop an economy that delivers both for people and for our planet. Future generations are asking us to act. We cannot let them down.

:: Meabh Cormacain is manager of the Northern Ireland Renewables Industry Group (NIRIG), which represents the views of the region's renewable electricity industry. Web: www.ni-rig.org. Twitter: @NIRIGrenewables