"I intend to circulate my draft bill and accompanying explanatory and financial memorandum to Executive colleagues. Once agreement to proceed is secured, I intend and am prepared to quickly move to introduce the right climate change Bill for Northern Ireland."Poots said his bill would introduce targets and also identify areas in which those targets can be achieved. "Northern Ireland has made substantial progress on transport and energy and can make substantial progress on agri-food," he said. "Farmers and the agri-food sector have bought into doing this. Cranswick pork factory, for example, is operating a net-zero plan.
Carbon leakage
Poots said he feared beef or dairy Northern Ireland would be off-shored to countries like South America. "We will be cutting down trees in order to produce that beef and will do more harm to the environment," he said. "Jumping up and down and pretending that you are doing something for the environment whenever what you are actually doing is entirely counterproductive is not a wise way forward, in my opinion."The Climate Change Committee (CCC), in recommending an emissions reduction target of at least 82% for Northern Ireland by 2050, took account of the importance of the Northern Ireland agri-food sector and the fact that around 50% of NI produce is exported to other parts of the United Kingdom."Whilst targets, such as having net-zero carbon by 2045, may stimulate some sectors, carbon leakage is extremely pertinent for the agri-food sector. In its analysis for Northern Ireland, the CCC felt that, based on current knowledge, meeting net-zero carbon by 2050 would require such a significant reduction in livestock production, particularly in the beef and dairy sectors, that it did not present a viable option."
