Debate contribution: The draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2025
Debate contribution by Mr Andrew Muir on .
- MLA
- Mr Andrew Muir
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 28 January 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Executive Committee Business
- Heading
- The draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2025
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4764043
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I beg to move
I am grateful for the opportunity to bring this draft Order to the House. The background to and operation of the UK emissions trading scheme (ETS) has been set out in detail previously, so I do not propose to repeat it. I refer Members to my opening remarks on 26 November 2024, when I brought the then draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2024 to the House. MLAs, particularly the members of the Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, have engaged positively with my Department on the emissions trading scheme, and I know that there is a good understanding throughout the Chamber of the importance of the UK-wide decarbonisation scheme to meeting our climate targets. I am, however, happy to address any clarification questions that Members may have. The proposals that are contained in the Order before us today were subject to a UK-wide UK ETS free allocation review consultation that took place between December 2023 and March 2024. It focused on altering free allocation methodology for stationary sectors to better target those most at risk of carbon leakage. On 28 November 2024, alongside my counterparts in England, Wales and Scotland, I agreed the content and to the subsequent publication of an initial Government response to that consultation, which included commitments to make two technical and operational changes to the UK ETS that relate specifically to the treatment and definition of stationary installations that permanently cease to undertake an activity that is regulated by the scheme. The response to other elements of that consultation is still under consideration by the UK Emissions Trading Scheme Authority (UKETSA). The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2025 was laid in draft format in the Northern Ireland Assembly on 3 December 2024 under the Climate Change Act 2008, which requires that Orders be laid and debated in each legislature in which they are to have effect. The Order was debated and approved by the Scottish Parliament on 14 January 2025, by the Welsh Senedd on 21 January 2025 and yesterday by both Houses of Parliament. This amending Order is quite short and, if approved, will make the following technical changes to the UK ETS. First, it will adapt the treatment and calculation of free allowances in the final year of operation for installations that permanently cease activity in order to eliminate the risk of an installation receiving an excess of free allowances in its final year. That involves a change to the scheme rules, whereby installations that permanently cease activity will have to submit an activity-level report in the year following cessation in order for regulators to recalculate free allocation based on actual final-year activity levels. That approach is in line with that taken by the EU ETS and will ensure that installations do not receive an excess of allowances that they could sell for profit, as that would absolutely not be in line with the scheme's policy intent. Essentially, the Order will reduce the misuse of final-year free allowances. The Order will also update the definition of "permanent cessation" to remove from the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020 the phrase:
"technically impossible to resume operation",
as that is deemed to be ambiguous. The definition will instead refer to the permanent cessation of activity, thus providing greater clarity for all. Those are the main elements of the Order. The Order does not extend the scope of the scheme to additional industrial sectors. As members of the AERA Committee will be aware, DAERA is considering further development and expansion of the scheme along with other UK Administrations as part of a series of ongoing UK-wide consultation exercises. In conclusion, the Order will make two technical and operational changes to the UK ETS that relate to the treatment and definition of stationary installations that permanently cease to undertake an activity that is regulated by the scheme. The amendment will help to ensure that the scheme continues to play its part in incentivising greenhouse gas emissions reduction in Northern Ireland and across the rest of the United Kingdom. Accordingly, I commend the Order to the House.
691 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.02 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.55 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.99 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:55 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
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