Debate contribution: Net Zero Policies: Cost-benefit Analysis

Debate contribution by Ms Diana Armstrong on 14 April 2026.

MLA

Ms Diana Armstrong

Party at the time

Ulster Unionist Party

Date

14 April 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Net Zero Policies: Cost-benefit Analysis

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5482657

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Climate change is a reality that we must confront — that is undeniable — but our response must be practical, proportionate and honest about what is achievable. The Ulster Unionist Party recognises that the targets that were set in the previous mandate, which were voted on by all parties, set a very high bar. We now accept that those targets were ambitious, and, as matters stand, they appear increasingly unrealistic for 2030. Recent failures on energy, security of supply concerns, the inability to deliver major road infrastructure, and significant barriers to agri-food security, which are all linked to climate targets, mean that we must be realistic and pragmatic. That build-up of failure means that a revision of targets should now be seriously considered. Scotland has shown that, when targets do not work, they can be revised and a new framework put in place. Northern Ireland should not shy away from doing the same. The implications of the Climate Change Act are already being felt. The High Court's ruling on the A5 road upgrade is not an isolated case. It casts a shadow over vital projects, including the A4 Enniskillen southern bypass and the A29 Cookstown bypass. It raises serious doubts about whether essential schemes can proceed without being derailed by compliance hurdles. Active travel ring-fencing compounds that, perversely restricting investment in basic road maintenance. In rural constituencies such as Fermanagh and South Tyrone, where cars are essential and public transport is limited, spending £430,000 on a 1·1 km footway while potholes go unrepaired is not balance; it is misalignment.

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thank the Member for his intervention. It is about the allocation of funds and looking at where those funds are best used. In a rural context, one questions the viability of that spending when there are so many other urgent issues. The structural failures are equally stark. The restrictive grip of the System Operator for Northern Ireland (SONI) and Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE), combined with glacial departmental reform, means that renewable connections are expensive, slow and laden with penalties for developers. Planning remains a nightmare for investors. Looking east from the Antrim hills, you can see developments in Scotland that are built in a fifth of the time at a third of the cost. There is no strategic view on storage, whether battery, pumped storage or otherwise, and interventions such as the renewable electricity price guarantee scheme are too little, too late. Farmers continue to shoulder the heaviest burden, despite having the fewest alternatives. Livestock reductions threaten farm incomes and food processing in a region that is a major UK food producer. The answer is technology, efficiency and innovation, not blunt cuts that undermine rural livelihoods.

The Audit Office has found that £170 million has been spent on net zero initiatives, yet progress is lagging considerably, and value for money is difficult to assess. That record does not justify doubling down without reform. Northern Ireland has a genuine role to play in meeting the UK's wider climate ambitions, but we cannot break our people or our industries pursuing goals that are unachievable in their current form. As a party, we agree with the thrust of the motion and the call for the Assembly to take steps to task every Department with conducting a cost-benefit analysis of all net zero-related policies within their remit. Climate policy and infrastructure delivery can and must work hand in hand, not in conflict. However, the UUP would support a revision of the draft climate action plan but not its removal. We must work towards ensuring a new draft plan in 2027 that is specific, measurable, ambitious and timely. While we work towards protecting our planet in the long term, we must recalibrate those balancing acts so that we can ensure that we protect livelihoods, build our infrastructure and have full food and fuel security.

644 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:18 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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