Debate contribution: Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022
Debate contribution by Mr Andrew Muir on .
- MLA
- Mr Andrew Muir
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 25 February 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4815256
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I have delivered progress across a number of areas. Regulations that place climate change reporting duties on specified public bodies came into operation on 3 May 2024. Regulations that set in law Northern Ireland's first three carbon budgets for the periods 2023-27, 2028-2032 and 2033-37 and a new emissions reduction target for 2040 were approved by the Assembly on 10 December last year and set the statutory framework for our pathway to net zero. A 10-week public consultation on the establishment of a just transition commission closed on 20 January 2025. My Department is analysing the feedback received, and the findings from the consultation will be used to inform the content of the final regulations that will establish the commission. Once the regulations are in place to establish the commission in law, a recruitment competition to appoint members to the commission will be undertaken via a public appointments process. Now that our first carbon budget has been set, I will bring forward as soon as possible a draft of Northern Ireland's first climate action plan to Executive colleagues and seek their agreement to publish the plan for a 16-week statutory public consultation. I am fully committed to delivering a climate action plan that is transformational, evidence-based, informed by stakeholders and in line with my commitment to a just transition. The requirement to establish a Northern Ireland climate commissioner sits under the Executive Office. The regulations to establish that body have been approved by the First Minister and deputy First Minister, and a draft has been laid before the Assembly. A positive vote in the Assembly will be required to approve the regulations. The Business Committee will, hopefully, schedule the debate and a vote on the matter in due course.
289 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 | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.45 | 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 | 1.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
| Sport (including the GAA), the arts and cultural bodies | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:02 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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