Northern Ireland Climate Change Legislation Update

The Climate Change (Reporting Bodies) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024 (the 2024 Climate Regulations) seek to establish a legislative framework that implements a reporting regime in Northern Ireland by placing climate change reporting duties on specified public bodies as required under Section 42 of The Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 (the 2022 Act).

Some of the specified public bodies include the Education Authority, Regional Business Services Organisation, a Health and Social Care Trust and Northern Ireland Water. It also places connected duties on the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) to perform certain functions including in relation to the production of guidance and the publication of climate change reports.

The 2024 Regulations were published on 12 April 2024, however they are subject to a negative resolution procedure under the 2022 Act which means they are required to be laid in the Northern Ireland Assembly for 21 days before they can become operational. As such, they are due to come into operation on 3 May.

Key Takeaways from the Regulations

1. Every reporting body must prepare reports which include:
   • an assessment of the current and predicted impact for adapting to climate change;
   • a statement of the body’s proposals and policies for adapting to climate change in the exercise of its functions;
   • a statement of the time-scales for implementing those proposals and policies; and
   • an assessment of the progress made towards implementing the proposals and policies set out in any previous climate change adaption report

 

2. The first report must relate to the period of four years beginning with 1 January 2026 and subsequent reports must relate to the period of five years beginning immediately after the end of the period to which the previous report relates.

 

3. Reports must be prepared and sent to the Department no later than one month after the end of the period to which the previous report relates.

Additional Requirements

In addition to the above reporting requirements, reporting bodies must also include;

• a statement of the amounts and the sources of the body’s greenhouse gas emissions;
• the body’s proposals and policies for reducing those amounts and otherwise for mitigating the effects of climate change in the exercise of its functions;
• the timescales for implementing those proposals and policies, and
• an assessment of the progress made towards implementing the proposals and policies set out in any previous climate change mitigation report.

Reports prepared by the relevant reporting body must be published by the DAERA, with the first report to be prepared and submitted no later than 31 October 2025.

For further information on any of the issues raised in this article, please get in touch with our Energy & Renewables team.

This article has been produced for general information purposes and further advice should be sought from a professional advisor.

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