Committee for the Environment - Inquiry into Climate Change Submissions

Northern Ireland Climate Change Impacts Partnership (NICCIP) - Evidence to the Environment Committee

Introduction

This submission is a summary of the views of NICCIP (see Appendix) on the issues raised by this inquiry. We would be happy to expand on our views orally should the Committee find that helpful.

Climate change

It is essential that climate change - and the consequent need to respond to it - is recognised as both a policy driver and the context within which many aspects of public policy will henceforth be made. The response to climate change only makes sense if it is also accepted that - while some climate change has always been a feature of our planet - the present manifestation of climate change is to a very substantial extent the result of human activity. Otherwise there is no feed back loop between the policy measures which are taken to reduce emissions (mitigation) or to adjust to climate change (adaptation) and the primary cause of the problem.

Adaptation

It is now generally accepted that there has been and will continue to be a degree of climate change whatever steps are taken to reduce emissions in the near future. It is therefore imperative that:

(i) all policy measures taken by public policy makers are sufficiently resilient as to be able to cope with the changes in climate which are, with increasing confidence, capable of being anticipated; and

(ii) that decision makers accept that adaptation embraces a recognition of both the changes to the physical environment and the change to the economic and fiscal policy environment which will ensure that the cost of using fossil fuels will be increasingly penalised in the coming years.

For this reason, while NICCIP lays stress on the adaptation component of policy making, we do so on the basis that mitigation measures will be deeply embedded in adaptation measures. For example, if the predictive science behind adaptation leads planners to forbid development in areas which will become at risk of flooding in the future the economic policy environment will require that dwellings in the future will be constructed so as not to have today’s buildings’ requirement for fossil fuels for heat and power.

A Fair Share

NICCIP agrees that Northern Ireland should make a proportionate contribution to emissions reduction. Northern Ireland has a high per capita carbon footprint. Does a fair share mean the same reduction per capita as Great Britain or the same percentage reduction or reaching the same per capita figure as Great Britain by a certain date? Moreover Northern Ireland’s “carbon border” with the Irish Republic is much more porous than our carbon border with Great Britain. Cross border sales of electricity and diesel and petrol create additional complexities for us. But if Great Britain’s emission story is relatively better than Northern Ireland’s this is because Great Britain obtains a quarter of its electricity from nuclear power, had access to gas for three decades before Northern Ireland and has also enjoyed greater investment in public transport.

NICCIP’s view is that Northern Ireland’s contribution should be based on our potential to make emissions reductions while taking into account the complications which arise from our sharing an island with a neighbouring jurisdiction. This will require vigilance and careful negotiation by those in the Executive charged with representing Northern Ireland’s interests.

Northern Ireland Specificities

Adaptation means that policies – particularly those affecting standards for physical construction – need to be “fit for purpose”. Using the increasingly sophisticated predictive tools which science provides – and which are summarised in the SNIFFER report – may mean that the standards to be adopted in Northern Ireland will differ from those adopted in Great Britain or in some regions of Great Britain. In order to adapt at least cost it is essential that those concerned with physical development or the provision of services which rely on physical development – hospitals, schools etc. - are required to update their standards to fully take into account changes in Northern Ireland’s climate and the environment as well as the full life costs of using fossil fuels.

Targets

Adaptation is not amenable to the target setting mindset. All physical development should henceforth be fit for the climatic conditions which can, with a high degree of confidence, be expected to prevail during its lifetime. It would therefore be nonsensical to set a target which would require –say – 30% of all new buildings by 2010 to be fit for their climate as this would in effect be saying that it is acceptable to build 70% of buildings in a way which will make them unfit for purpose or excessively expensive to run in the very near future.

With regard to target setting on the mitigation side perverse incentives and outcomes will result from a failure to apply a strict observance of costs and benefits. The least cost – and in many cases these are actually profitable - ways of reducing emissions should be identified and pursued with vigour.

However, we recognise that setting targets may be a fashionable political imperative. Where this is the case the Executive should also give consideration to the vehicles for achieving those targets. Hitherto there has been a naïve belief in Government that setting targets is its job and that it does not have to “will the means” as well as “willing the end”. It is clear that in order to combat recession, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and to improve energy security – and to do all three in the most cost effective possible way – a “green” programme of investment by households, businesses and public bodies needs to organised and championed by the Northern Ireland Executive. There are many existing entities in Northern Ireland which could contribute to the speedy and efficient delivery of this much needed “Green New Deal”.

Incentives

Northern Ireland should seek financial incentives to achieve green house gas reductions which cut deeper into our emissions than a simple proportionate share would imply. Such incentive payments should then be recycled into further adaptation/mitigation measures thereby creating a virtuous development spiral.

North South

Given the porosity of our carbon border with the Irish Republic and the risk that one jurisdiction or the other could secure something of a “free ride” from the measures taken in the other, we believe that it will be important to work closely with our neighbours and seek to secure synergies and economies of scale in our adaptation to climate change.

Enforcement

Independent oversight beyond the reach of “political fudge” is essential if the public is to have confidence that climate change is being effectively and efficiently tackled. This cannot be self policed by the Executive or Departments. We therefore propose that climate change adaptation inspection be entrusted to an independent body answerable to the Assembly and reporting annually. The role would be analogous to that of the NIAO and consideration should be given to NIAO assuming such a role.

Appendix 1

The Northern Ireland Climate Change Impacts Partnership (NICCIP) Following up a recommendation from the 2007 DOE/Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research report ('Preparing for a Changing Climate in Northern Ireland') the NICCIP was established in March 2007. Its aim is to widen the understanding and knowledge of the impacts of climate change within Northern Ireland and the adaptation actions necessary to deal with it. The partnership consists of representatives from central and local government, the business community, the voluntary sector and professional organisations. The objectives of the group are as follows: To promote, through partnership, the ownership across relevant social, economic and environmental sectors of issues relating to climate change adaptation; To increase the adaptive capacity of organisations across all sectors; To provide a forum for discussion and a link between organisations concerned with climate change adaptation issues; To develop a programme of activities e.g. joint research, study, events, visits, seminars etc; To provide members with information and links to regional, national and international activities on impacts and adaptation; To consider the relevance of mitigation to the interests of the partnership; and To develop and consolidate membership of appropriate organisations and develop governance arrangements." The submission does not reflect the view of individual government departments nor any other individual member organisation. Rather it is a collective view of the general partnership.

NICCIP Members

Federation of Small Businesses
Chief Environmental Health Officers Group
Confederation of British Industry
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
Department of Environment (Air Quality)
Department of Environment (Climate Change)
Department of Environment (Planning)
Department for Regional Development (Roads Service)
Department of Health Social Service and Public Safety
Institution of Civil Engineers Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action
Northern Ireland Environment Agency
Northern Ireland Environment Link
Northern Ireland Local Government Association
Northern Ireland Water
Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research
Sustainable Development Commission ( Northern Ireland)
UK Climate Impacts Programme
Ulster Farmers Union