COP26 Climate report

Green Growth: Tackling the climate crisis

Climate change is the defining crisis of our time on a global and national scale and Northern Ireland is not immune, writes Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Edwin Poots MLA.

“Agriculture is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in Northern Ireland and whilst this presents many challenges, I believe it also presents many opportunities.”

We have seen first-hand how climate change can lead to more frequent severe weather events and we face numerous other challenges aside, including improving our air quality, tackling plastic pollution, achieving zero waste and the development of a circular economy. We simply cannot continue with a ‘business as usual’ approach, we must act now before it is too late with a shared vision of the future and a plan to make it a reality.

I recently attended the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) in Glasgow. COP26 brought together signatory parties to the Convention from across the globe with the aim of accelerating action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, realising this vision of a cleaner, more sustainable world must be a priority. Failing to do so would be irresponsible and the consequences unthinkable.

My department has recently, on behalf of the Northern Ireland Executive, launched a public consultation on a Green Growth Strategy for Northern Ireland. This cross-cutting multi-decade Strategy will set out the long-term vision and a solid framework for tackling the climate crisis by balancing climate action with a clean environment and the economy.

It provides us with an important opportunity to embed wider climate change, a green economy and environmental considerations, into

“The next decade must be one of urgent action and we must all play our part.”

decision making. This would ensure that new policies and programmes align with the need to address climate change, develop green jobs and address biodiversity commitments. This strategy represents a significant step forward for Northern Ireland as we move from a high to a low emissions society and as we balance climate action with environmental and economic considerations. I believe that this Green Growth approach is right for Northern Ireland; a Northern Ireland where we can all enjoy the longer term economic, social, health and environmental benefits that this brings.

My draft Climate Change Bill has now passed Second Stage in the Assembly and I am confident that, through this Bill, we can achieve the right balance between safeguarding the environment, the economy and society. It is steeped in science, is evidence-based and takes a common sense and realistic approach to what is an extremely complex issue that can only be addressed successfully by bringing those who can make the change along with us.

Agriculture

Northern Ireland will play its important part in reaching UK net zero by 2050, if not before. At this time, agriculture is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in Northern Ireland and whilst this presents many challenges, I believe it also presents many opportunities. I recently published the Future Agricultural Policy Framework Portfolio for Northern Ireland which is set around four key outcomes: increased productivity; environmental sustainability; improved resilience; and a responsive supply chain. Higher productivity growth in our agri-industry, through science and innovation, must be achieved in a way that is compatible with improving environmental sustainability.

The next decade must be one of urgent action and we must all play our part. Continuing to meet consumption by traditional methods is damaging our environment and we must address this to restore and protect the natural assets we rely on, whilst supporting their sustainable use. We must create green jobs, end our reliance on fossil fuels and provide opportunities through investment in innovation to help us develop new ways of working.

Collectively we can lay the foundations for a more sustainable society, which can rejuvenate our economy following the Covid-19 crisis, before irreparable damage is done.

Showing leadership on climate change

From left: Martin Pibworth, SSE's Group Energy and Commercial Director, joins Northern Ireland First Minister Paul Givan MLA, An Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD, and Northern Ireland deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill MLA at a pre-COP26 event, Let’s Power Change Together.

Martin Pibworth, SSE plc’s Group Energy and Commercial Director, outlines how we need to seize the opportunity of COP26 to power change together across the island of Ireland.

In early October at Belfast’s W5 and SSE Arena, the three most senior political representatives on the island of Ireland came together under one roof to examine and discuss the most pressing issue of our time: climate change.

The event, Let’s Power Change Together, was organised by the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Chambers Ireland ahead of the COP26, the UN’s Climate Change Conference. It afforded an important opportunity for Northern Ireland First Minister Paul Givan, Northern Ireland deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill, and An Taoiseach Micheál Martin to come together for the first time to discuss how we can adopt an all-island approach to net zero.

On behalf of SSE, I was proud to be able to join our chamber partners in welcoming our most senior political representatives to this unique and vital gathering.

As I arrived it was fantastic to see the SSE Arena which has served a crucial recent role as a vaccination centre. Our collective response to Covid and our

“Commitment to collaboration is the cornerstone of the NI Executive strategic response to climate

change.” First Minister Paul Givan MLA

resilience is yet another proof point of how adaptive society can be when the need arises.

And we do have another need. It’s not new. We are all equally affected. We talk about it often, but now, it is more urgent than ever.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on climate change published in August was sobering but it also offered hope; we can still limit the worst impacts of climate change, but only if there are immediate, rapid, and largescale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The challenge is clear.

This need for urgency is why SSE, as a Scottish-headquartered company, became a principal partner to Glasgow’s COP26 last November. A successful COP26 will bring together the policy, capital, and technology to ensure the accelerated delivery of climate action measures.

At SSE we’re excited to be playing our part in helping take action to combat climate change, by providing expertise, commitment, and action through the delivery of greener energy. As an energy utility we have a crucial role to play on behalf of our customers and communities and we’re getting on with it.

So, what does getting on with it mean?

At this moment SSE is building more offshore wind than any other company in the world. This includes constructing the largest offshore wind farm on the planet at Dogger Bank off the coast of England and constructing what will be the world’s deepest fixed bottom offshore wind farm at Seagreen off the coast of Scotland. We’re also building new onshore wind in Shetland where our in-construction Viking Energy Wind Farm is on track to become one of the most productive onshore wind farms in Europe when operational.

But we’re also continuing to develop new sites so we can accelerate net zero ambitions to help tackle the climate crisis. We have ambitious plans for a 4.1GW super-project development in the North Sea which could become one of the largest offshore wind opportunities in the world. Beyond Britain and Ireland, we’re exploring how we can develop new offshore wind farms in countries such as Denmark, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and the United States so we can help the globe go net zero.

We’re 100 per cent ready to deliver Ireland’s emerging offshore wind ambitions. The island of Ireland has an enviable offshore wind resource that could make a significant contribution to decarbonisation here. The direction of public discourse across Ireland, north and south, and emerging energy policy in both jurisdictions all signal a new era for energy policy. The Irish Government recently increased its renewable electricity target to 80 per cent by 2030, underpinned by a 5GW target for offshore wind by 2030.

SSE stands ready to deliver via our 520MW Arklow Bank Phase 2 Project and we are energised by the prospect of doing so. However, the project does require decisive Government action to enable its early delivery including consenting, grid, and route to market solutions; with these interventions we could have the project delivered by 2025. That can help secure Ireland’s energy future, reduce carbon emissions, and create local jobs, and in the here and now. to seeing the Executive’s new Energy Strategy targeting at least 70 per cent renewable electricity supply by 2030 which will set us on a similarly ambitious course for decarbonisation.

Investment from companies such as SSE can accelerate the green recovery, but they will require government support. At SSE we’re ready to play our part by providing our technical expertise and multi-billion-pound investment in renewable projects. In addition to a massive expansion of renewables we are finding clean solutions for those periods when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine by pioneering new carbon capture and hydrogen technologies.

Critically, we are also ensuring our customers have the access they need to low carbon energy solutions from clean energy supply to building retrofits to tech solutions such as solar. We are doing all these things because there is no single answer. The solution will ultimately be the collective contribution of all of these different innovations.

Over recent weeks the energy sector has attracted much media commentary due to the sudden spike in gas prices. Times like these are concerning both for us and for our customers. However, it does further emphasise the need to insulate society and the markets from the volatility of fossil fuel commodity prices.

Development of renewables is an economically cost-efficient way to achieve this for the long-term. The prize will be a sustainable energy system that increases the attractiveness of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to international investment. Inaction, on the other hand, risks us getting left behind.

There are many hard questions to answer and we know the road ahead will throw up difficult challenges, but there are two certainties to consider: firstly, science tells us we can still mitigate the worst effects of climate change. Secondly, there are solutions ready today, like our Arklow Bank offshore wind project which is primed and ready to deliver by 2025; and technological solutions ahead such as hydrogen.

We need decisive action now with the private sector and government policy fully aligned, and we need to seize the opportunity of COP26 to show strong leadership on climate change so we ensure we are all powering change together, across the island of Ireland, and across the globe.

“There is no more significant common concern on this island than meeting the climate

challenge.” An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin TD

W: www.sse.com

“Climate doesn't recognise any borders. We're going to be more effective if we work together. We must play our part in the global response...

by taking action.” Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill MLA

COP26: The Glasgow Climate Pact

Alok Sharma MP, President of the 26th United Nations Climate Conference (COP26) hosts the 26th UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.

While many will celebrate the inclusion of tackling coal and fossil fuels for the first time in a COP final decision, others have pointed to the stark reality that COP26 did little to change the trajectory of expected global warming of 2.4ºC by 2030.

Current national plans to cut emissions, if implemented, fall short of ambitions to ‘limit global warming to “well below 2ºC, ideally 1.5ºC, since pre-industrial times”. Despite a heightened awareness of the need to address climate change globally, only one of the world’s major emitters, India, produced new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) at the conference, with the emphasis for enhanced national ambitions seemingly pushed for following years.

Under the guidelines of the Paris Agreement, nations are only required to set new NDCs every five years. An original roadmap set out a vision that this would occur in 2025, with the focus at that time being on actions beyond 2030. However, estimations are that current NDCs will be inadequate to limit global warming to the required level, with a 2.4ºC rise predicted by 2030 on the current trajectory. While calls for fresh NDCs to be produced in Glasgow were largely ignored, some progress was achieved in ensuring that NDCs have been put on the agenda for COP27 in Egypt and COP28 in 2023.

Importantly, there now appears to be a greater unison between leading nations on what the global temperature rise limiting target should be. Some nations had argued that an aim of 1.5ºC would be a rewrite of the Paris Agreement’s actual commitment. At COP26, however, nations such as the US and the UK emphasised that the “well below 2ºC” target must be sought, an ambition largely agreed by participating nations.

Credit: UK Government.

Coal

Coal took centre stage as both the biggest achievement and potentially biggest disappointment of COP26. The Glasgow Climate Pact looked set to include a historic pledge by all nations to phase out coal-fired generation but opposition from some of the world’s largest users forced a retreat in ambition, with the final text including a pledge to ‘phase down’ use. The International Energy Agency estimates that some 40 per cent of the world’s existing coal-fired power plants will need to be closed by 2030 if global warming is to be limited to 1.5ºC but to date, fossil fuel-producing companies and heavy consumers of oil and coal have been successful in keeping the phasing out of fossil fuels off the COP agenda. While not as ambitious as most would have hoped, the inclusion of a phase down commitment still represents significant progress.

Climate reparation

Much like the issue of revised national targets, also pushed on to COP27 was a mechanism to help fund nations to deal with loss or damage associated with climate change. It has long been argued that unpreventable or unmanageable climate events, such as hurricanes and flooding have a direct effect on the resources of developing countries, forcing them to spend budgets on repairing damage rather than proactively mitigating climate change. Richer nations have, for a long time, sought to oppose a financing mechanism which could be viewed as a compensation or reparation scheme, recognising the potential costs associated with legal liability for climate damage.

COP25 produced some progress on the issue, including the establishment the Santiago Network, a reporting and database system, however no funding mechanism was discussed at COP26.

Climate finance

Pre-COP26, a lot had been made of a failure by richer countries to honour a pledge to aid poorer countries to cut emissions through public and private financing. In 2009, it was agreed that $100 billion would be raised annually, however in 2019, the most recent data available, only $80 billion had been allocated. Richer countries reacted to anger from developing countries at COP26 by pledging to increase finance to ensure $500 billion will be available for the next five years.

Crucially, the Glasgow Climate Pact has introduced a shift to where that finance will be directed. The text agreed to double the proportion of climate finance going to adaption. The agreement falls short of the UN recommendation for an even split, recognising current topheavy investment in emissions-cutting projects because of their viability to return a profit. However, the move is seen as progress for those poorer countries who face extreme weather and struggle to obtain investment.

The success of the Glasgow Climate Pact will rest on whether nations are prepared to transmit their pledges at COP26 into legally binding ambitions nationally. The Glasgow Pact is not legally binding, meaning that domestic responsibility will play a huge role in limiting global warming to acceptable levels. Outside of the inclusion of fossilfuels as an issue which needs addressed at COP26, it appears that next year’s pledges expected by nations, could be a defining moment in the climate crises.

“While not as ambitious as most would have hoped, the inclusion of a phase down commitment still represents significant progress.”

Key pledges

Coal and fossil fuel: To “accelerate efforts towards” phasing down “unabated coal power” and to bring about an end to “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies.

Loss and damage: Beginning of a “dialogue” on funding a new organisation to support countries affected by climate change. Climate finance: Increase in climate finance for poorer nations to at least meet the previously set out $100 billion target per year, through to 2025. Rich nations will double their support for adaptation measures to help developing countries. Carbon markets: The rules will create a market for units representing emissions reductions that countries can trade, under so-called Article 6.

Trees: Over 100 nations pledged to end deforestation by 2030. Methane: Large methane emitters including Russia, China and India did not join in pledging to a scheme to cut 30 per cent of methane emissions by 2030.