Sustainable Development at the Northern Ireland Assembly

The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (The Commission) is committed to becoming an exemplar organisation in respect of Sustainable Development. Over the course of this year, the Commission has already undertaken significant steps to reduce and manage its environmental impact through its Environmental Management Systems (EMS) to the ISO 14001:2015 International Standard. This commitment will continue as we set environmental performance targets for waste, paper usage, energy emissions and sustainable travel.

The Commission is a gold member of Business in the Community Northern Ireland (BITCNI). The Commission was first awarded the Business and Biodiversity Charter at Platinum level in May 2015. In August 2018, the Commission, in a joint initiative with the Department of Finance’s Stormont Estate Management Unit, was once again awarded the Charter at Platinum Level for demonstrating a continued commitment to protecting and improving biodiversity. Since 2023 the Commission has been awarded the Charter at Gold Level. 

Study our data including information on energy consumption, carbon emissions and recycling within Parliament Buildings.

 

Policies

The Sustainable Development Policy was introduced in December 2009, which sets out the Commission’s aspirations to operate more sustainably.  This policy is reviewed on a yearly basis to ensure that it is still suitable and sufficient.

To support the Policy, Sustainable Development targets have been set.

An Environmental Policy Statement was also published which outlines the Commission’s commitment to continual improvement, complying with all environmental legislation and to reduce and prevent pollution where possible.