Letter: Northern Ireland needs climate change legislation that is realistic and manageable - and that doesn't stifle economic development and growth

While the decision may have been laden with good intentions, its implementation has been disastrous.

I find it deeply concerning that legislation which has caused delay and inertia across our infrastructure network is still being defended despite it being clearly unworkable.

The UUP has called for a revision of this legislation to be considered, but other parties refuse to acknowledge that their original judgement may have been wrong, despite the evidence now before us.

The time has come, in my opinion, to face up to that fact that what is being implemented is unworkable and due to the current problematic outworkings my position is to call for a review into this legislation.

The best evidence available currently is that which the Climate Change Committee has recommended – a target of an 82% reduction in emissions rather than 100% by 2050.

It is now time for parties to be honest with the public. The goals set in 2022 were unachievable within the timelines imposed, and continued denial serves no one.

The evidence of failure is clear. Two out of three key targets will be missed by 2030, and only around one per cent of a vital energy-saving initiative has been achieved. That alone should prompt serious reflection.

The public casts its ballot expecting parties to act in their interests and to scrutinise legislation properly. People want straight answers from their MLAs and credible delivery. Yet this legislation and its practical outworkings have delivered neither.

We cannot allow the public to believe that decisions taken on their behalf are infallible or irreversible.

As MLAs, we are accountable to our constituents, and that accountability requires honesty when serious errors of judgement are made.

Although there are 90 MLAs in Stormont, every vote affects more than 1.9 million people. Too often, that responsibility appears to be underestimated.

This legislation should have strengthened both the economic and infrastructural fabric of Northern Ireland. Instead, failures to meet energy targets, ongoing concerns about energy security, the continued inability to deliver major road infrastructure, and growing risks to agri-food security all point to the same conclusion.

We must be pragmatic. We require goals that are realistic and do not curtail development across this province.

Climate ambition that ignores delivery capacity ultimately undermines both environmental objectives and economic stability.

Even if Northern Ireland was to move to 100 per cent renewable electricity tomorrow, consumers would see little immediate benefit.

Electricity prices remain indexed to gas markets, meaning households and businesses would continue to face high costs.

This raises serious questions about why businesses are being burdened with unworkable net-zero commitments that deliver neither savings nor security.

Our legislation is supposed to help people, not burden them with more undue pressure and anxiety.

Energy security should not be in question in Northern Ireland. As a constituent part of the United Kingdom, one of the world’s sixth largest economies, we should be building resilience into our energy system.

If one element of the network fails, it becomes increasingly difficult to redistribute capacity.

Where output is reduced due to staff shortages or damage – as experienced at Ballylumford Power Station in December past - other stations must compensate while remaining within strict limits.

This is another clear example of poorly designed legislation.

Northern Ireland will play a significant role in meeting the United Kingdom’s wider climate targets, but that responsibility cannot come at the expense of our infrastructure network or our growing industries.

Instead, we require climate change legislation that is realistic and manageable.

It must consider the wider consequences of its reach, ensure it does not create bottlenecks in our energy infrastructure, and avoid delaying the delivery of much-needed public infrastructure.

Above all, it must not overreach in a way that stifles economic development and growth.

We need to get a better balance between looking after our climate and our environment but also ensuring that we can still build vital infrastructure for the future and protect the agri-food sector.

We must become better legislators in Northern Ireland and properly consider the full consequences of the laws that we pass and have the moral courage to admit when we make errors.

Diana Armstrong MLA, setting out her position and that of fellow Ulster Unionist MLA Jon Burrows