Editorial: Northern Ireland ​needs real but deliverable climate change target

​Climate change activists, backed by naive politicians, often seek impossible targets in terms of carbon emissions.

In Northern Ireland this has led to a net zero by 2050 greenhouse gases goal which even Lord Deben, chair of the Climate Change Commission, said last year went well beyond commission recommendations. While praising the ambition of the goal, he pointed out that NI is already playing catch-up with the rest of the UK in environmental goals. “These new targets will quickly lose credibility if the policy focus does not shift quickly to implementation and successful delivery of outcomes,” he said.

Even a Conservative UK government has come under fire for being overly ambitious in phasing out the sale of petrol cars by 2030. Such a goal can seem at a glance to be well into the future but seven years will come round fast.

Governments that make rash announcements will likely be gone when they come round. If it is as far away as 2050 then even some of the younger Stormont MLAs, currently aged in their 30s, will be retired.

And yet there is no room for complacency. Climate change sceptics can use extreme targets to rubbish the whole notion of environmentally-aware policies. Thus, for example, widening London’s low emissions zone for the UK capital’s undoubtedly polluted centre out to its almost rural fringes was a precaution too far, boosting those who would do nothing on climate.

The exact causes of climate change remain uncertain, yet human activity has unquestionably played a part. We are now seeing disturbing examples of erratic and dangerous weather. Therefore we certainly need behavioural change, but we might also need things like nuclear power, which are carbon free. In summary, we need a meaningful but realistic approach to energy policy and constraints.