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DAERA Permanent Secretary Anthony
closure on the draft strategy at the end of 2021. Describing the strategy as “an important milestone for Northern Ireland in the fight against climate change”, the Permanent Secretary sets out the context in which Northern Ireland finds itself lagging behind the rest of the UK in relation to emission reductions since 1990.
Explaining that green growth means using the move from a high-to a low-emissions society to improve people’s quality of life through green jobs and a clean, resilient environment while ensuring that the region’s natural assets can deliver their full economic potential on a sustainable basis, Harbinson believes that the strategy will offer an opportunity to embed green growth principles into decisionmaking.
Discussing the impetus being placed on imminent action within the Strategy’s 10 executive commitments, Harbinson points to the example of ministers committing to embed green growth into all decision making and ensuring that green growth is central to all policy and budgetary decisions by introducing a statutory green growth test and making green growth a budgetary priority.
Additionally, he says that “walking the talk” is important and highlights Executive agreement to lead by example through delivering a government estate and fleet with net zero operational carbon emissions and ensuring a green growth aligned procurement strategy for all government spend.
He adds: “The Strategy clearly highlights that to take the necessary decisions and actions, a collective approach will be required across central and local government, the private, voluntary and community sectors and all our citizens. The decisions we all make need to reflect the green growth principles and each and every one of us can and should use them as a point of reference when making decisions around how we live, work, move around and interact with each other.”
Setting out green growth as an opportunity to “kick-start” Northern Ireland’s recovery from the Covid-19 crisis, Harbinson says delivery has already begun through the launch of
Forests for Our Future, a programme aimed at planting 18 million trees and creating 9,000 hectares of new woodland by 2030 and working with companies to address Northern Ireland’s reliance on fossil fuels.
Climate Change Bill
Harbinson was speaking before the progress of the Agriculture Minister’s Climate Change Bill, which is now awaiting Royal Assent. The Minister’s Bill, which was supported by the Department, has been heavily distorted since its introduction, mainly due to heavy amendments to closer align the Bill to that of a now-withdrawn Private Member’s Bill, which sought a more ambitious greenhouse gas target and timeline.
Describing the Minister’s Bill as “evidence-based” and science-led”, Harbinson says that it will “deliver the right balance of climate ambition while supporting a thriving local agricultural sector,” adding that “a regionally balanced economy will boost our food security, prevent carbon leakage, and reduce our emissions”.
Environment Strategy
Addressing the third pillar of environmental improvement, an environmental strategy, which has also just recently closed for consultation, Harbinson believes the strategy is one that will “set the direction of travel for the coming decades, providing us with focus and purpose, and is of real importance for all our futures”.
Subject to the approval of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Department intends to adopt the Environment Strategy as Northern Ireland’s first Environmental Improvement Plan under the UK Environment Act 2021.
“We want the new Environment Strategy to focus on results that will make a difference to the lives of people now, and in the future: it will cover critical areas including climate and biodiversity action, 4
sustainability, agriculture, our marine environment, our built environment, and natural capital. It will play a central role in improving our natural environment and people’s enjoyment of our environment for years to come,” he says.
The draft Strategy sets out six strategic environmental outcomes which encompass the main environmental challenges in the coming decades and according to the Permanent Secretary, the objectives will form the basis of how Northern Ireland faces up to the challenges of improving its environment.
Harbinson explains that sitting underneath the Environment Strategy is a number of other key strategies under development, including a revised Biodiversity Strategy, and a Peatlands Strategy.
He adds: “Action is also needed for our seas to reach Good Environmental Status. Collaboration through the BritishIrish Council marine sub-groups and Interreg Va projects such as COMPASS, MarPAMM and SeaMonitor have provided excellent opportunities for cross border monitoring and management of the marine environment. The Department has consulted on management measures for fishing in Marine Protected Areas and intends to introduce regulations in the coming months.”
Agriculture
Turning to the fourth pillar, future agriculture policy, Harbinson stresses that farming is a fundamental part of the fabric of Northern Ireland life and as such, is an essential and important contributor to the economy.
In December 2021, Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots MLA launched a consultation on Future Agricultural Policy Proposals for Northern Ireland, which Harbinson says is a key policy in protecting the environment. “The resources associated with it will play a critical role in achieving the Department’s vision for a future agricultural regime that promotes productivity, resilience, environmental sustainability and a functioning supply chain,” he adds.
Alongside financial support towards the uptake of low emission slurry spreading equipment and investment through the Farm Business Improvement scheme, Harbinson points to the Department’s development of a draft Ammonia Strategy to reduce ammonia and improve the condition of habitats and the opening of the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme.
Air quality
Turning to efforts to address key local environmental challenges facing Northern Ireland, Harbinson points to the Department’s work to develop a Clean Air Strategy, following the launch of a discussion document in November 2020. In August 2021, DAERA and the Department of Health launched the revised joint High Air Pollution Alert Protocol, to ensure the public are alerted to high air pollution in Northern Ireland.
Additionally, on the development of a circular economy, the Permanent Secretary outlines an ambitious recycling rate target of 65 per cent by 2035, ensuring no more than 10 per cent of waste goes to landfill by the same year. Northern Ireland’s recycling rate in 2020 hit 50 per cent, a significant uplift from the 10 per cent rate just a decade before.
Harbinson says that key to achieving this ambition will be addressing a “throw away culture” associated with plastics. New Decade, New Approach committed to the preparation of a plan to eliminate plastic pollution.
Northern Ireland, with a population of just under two million, currently uses around 70 million single-use plastic drinks cups every year and around 150 million singleuse plastic food containers and Harbinson says: “That’s a major waste of resources, an unnecessary burden on our waste management infrastructure and, sadly, a blight on our environment for the portion that ends up being littered.
“That’s why the Department has recently run a consultation on ways to reduce our consumption of single-use plastic cups and takeaway food containers. The results will be used to develop a plan for the best way to encourage changes in consumer behaviour to break our singleuse plastic habit.”
In addition, the Department is implementing the UK-wide initiative of a Plastic Packaging Tax. From April 2022, a tax is levied on all plastic with less than 30 per cent recycled content, which the Permanent Secretary says will stimulate greater demand for recycled plastic and help to build the circular economy for plastics.
Office for Environmental Protection
Harbinson says that the Department recognises that maintaining independent environmental scrutiny is an essential element of governance following the UK’s exit from the European Union and its associated oversight structures. The UK’s Environment Bill reached the statute book on 9 November 2021, establishing an independent oversight body in the form of the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP). The environment is the only area in which a previous oversight role of the European Commission is being translated into domestic law, making the OEP a unique body.
Following the approval from the Northern Ireland Assembly, the OEP is to become the environmental oversight body for Northern Ireland, which Harbinson says “is undoubtedly the best option we have at the current time”.
Republic of Ireland in the same year.
Highlighting that the legacy of the Troubles still has a significant impact on mental health in Northern Ireland, with mental health issues being most prevalent in deprived areas and areas affected by the violence, the report states: “The social determinants of health, such as income, education and employment status, play a big part in mental health, and this is particularly pronounced in Northern Ireland as a result of the conflict.”
Both the Irish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive have increased efforts to promote and support mental health services in the last number of years. In 2021, the Republic of Ireland launched a new policy for mental health in 2021, while Northern Ireland’s first mental health strategy funding plan was published earlier in the year.
Over the last decade, the broader ambitions of the development of mental health services have been similar in both jurisdictions, through a move away from institutionalised and hospital-based services. Instead, the shift has been towards community-based services, early intervention, and preventative measures to avoid and alleviate mental health problems. This is despite some fundamental differences between the healthcare systems, with Northern Ireland’s free universal healthcare, compared to the mix of private and public charges services in the south.
The report points to evidence of good collaboration in the mental health area between public, community, and voluntary stakeholders on an all-island or north-south basis but says that the potential to build on the knowledge and experience already in existence in these organisations, by providing them with consistent support to enable them to further develop and mainstream successful programmes.
“Despite the existence of some structures of co-operation, the consensus seems to be that a more formalised setting or forum, dedicated to mental health cooperation, would be desirable,” report author Jenny Andersson states.
“Many stakeholders said that it would help to place, and keep, mental health issues on the agenda, and that it could be useful in ensuring consistent funding for mental health initiatives.”
Funding
In Ireland, mental health services have shown an increase in both funding and service activity over the last decade but there has also been an increase in demand for mental health services. However, spending on mental health as part of the wider health budget remains comparatively low in both jurisdictions, with a figure of around 6 per cent for the Republic and the same for Northern Ireland. By comparison, in England that figure is 12 per cent.
While the pandemic has pushed the issue of mental health and related services up the policy agenda, evidence of increased demand already exists but the full impact of the Covid crisis on mental health is not expected to be revealed for a number of years. Anxiety of the disease as well as curbs on social interaction, education and prolonged stress have all been identified in a range of issues potentially having a negative impact on mental health.
The pandemic illustrated the difficulties inherent in having two different public health responses in such close proximity.
“During the pandemic, both jurisdictions moved by necessity towards increased provision of online supports. While they are not suitable for every individual and situation, there does seem to be consensus around their many potential benefits, not least in increasing the reach of services to those that might be unable or reluctant to attend in-person services. The main advantage of online supports in the particular context of north-south cooperation is, of course, that there are no physical borders inherent in these types of interventions,” Andersson says.
In conclusion, the paper outlines a number of topics for further consideration, including:
• possible benefits from enhancing the level and range of settings for crossborder engagement between the two administrations, and in professional and clinical terms, on mental health co-operation;
• how to ensure consistent funding and subsequent mainstreaming of successful cross-border and all-island projects;
• the possible role of a Mental Health
Champion in the Republic of Ireland, building on the experience in
Northern Ireland;
• improved and more standardised data collection on mental health, as a tool for comparing policy outcomes, and to help share learning and information;
• how to build on and use the growth in online supports as a tool in crossborder co-operation; and
• whether scope exists for more policy co-operation, and, given the public health aspect, whether there is potential for more co-operation around prevention and early intervention.
Experience in transition
Phoenix Energy Holdings’ Group Chairman, Peter Dixon, talks to agendaNi about building Northern Ireland’s gas industry from scratch over the last 25 years and how the company is well placed to meet the challenges associated with decarbonising the energy sector over the next 25 years.
Reflecting to 25 years ago, when there was no gas industry in Northern Ireland, Dixon compares the creation of such a large and complex industry, using only private money, as equitable to the electrification of Northern Ireland in the 1950s or the railway building of the previous century.
Twenty-five years on and Phoenix Natural Gas is one of the largest businesses in Northern Ireland, having built around 4,000km of gas network, making gas available to around 350,000 properties in doing so, with new connections averaging around 10,000 per year across that period. The supply chain has developed to employ some 2,500 people locally and Dixon believes that the Phoenix story is “a great example of how you deliver public policy objectives with private sector money in a way that works for everyone”.
On the daunting task of getting the industry off the ground, Dixon says: “Starting out, we never really stood back and considered how big the task was. Perhaps we were somewhat naive at the start but we got things moving forward by taking each challenge in turn and constantly innovating.”
The Phoenix Group Chairman believes a key element of the industry’s progress has been the development of the people in Phoenix and beyond. By this, Dixon points to inclusion of “the wider Phoenix family”, which stretches to over 450 independent companies that make up the natural gas sector and the importance of keeping the structures within the business flat, “maintaining excellent relationships with key stakeholders and fostering a collegiate culture with colleagues and the communities we serve alike.”
Decarbonisation: The big challenge
Dixon believes that this approach positions the company well to tackle an issue that will dominate core business workstreams in the coming years and is of critical regional importance: the decarbonisation of the Northern Ireland economy.
“Our business plan, with several iterations over the years, has developed the industry we see today and it is still growing each year. Over this period, we have collaborated with a number of partners across several sectors. Looking to the next 25 years we will need to further expand our key stakeholder and partner relationships to reflect the increasingly broad reach of solutions and sectors that will be involved in the delivery of net zero outcomes.”
Government also remains a key stakeholder for the decarbonisation journey, as it was when Phoenix and its partners were developing the gas industry. The introduction of natural gas to Northern Ireland remains a relatively inexpensive step in the decarbonisation journey with homeowners who convert to natural gas from oil or coal reducing their carbon footprint by up to 50 per cent as a consequence.
The Northern Ireland gas industry now has a footprint right across the region, with an additional two distribution network operators contributing to an overall investment of over £1 billion to date, making gas available to around 550,000 homes and businesses with 320,000 of these already having made the move to the lower carbon fuel. However, across Northern Ireland there are still around 230,000 homes and businesses that have gas network available to them that remain using oil. Dixon sees this as “an easy, no-regrets move to get them onto natural gas and as well as reducing their carbon footprint immediately, creating a pathway for future full decarbonisation as the natural gas flowing into their homes and businesses is replaced by renewable gases in the future”.
New technologies
In developing innovative low and nocarbon solutions, such as biomethane and hydrogen, existing links to academia will continue to be important, providing opportunities for strengthened relationships with the likes of Queen’s University Belfast. Dixon believes that such collaborations will be vital in getting renewable gases into the Northern Ireland gas network. “Our business plan now sees natural gas being progressively replaced by renewable gases. That also offers the opportunity to support the decarbonisation of additional sectors such as agriculture and transport.”
The potential for biomethane production from Northern Ireland’s agriculture sector is significant, equivalent of up to 80 to 90 per cent of the networks current requirements.
Looking to new hydrogen technologies, Dixon says that: “We need to make the transition without a fuss. We will be relying on our existing partners who built the gas industry in Northern Ireland and also looking to new partners, particularly those that recognise the circular opportunities that hydrogen production provides to the resilience and affordability of an integrated energy system.”
Dixon came to Northern Ireland in 1997 from British Gas, who at the time provided downstream services to energy users as well as core network responsibilities. However, in viewing the 4
gas industry in Northern Ireland as an eco-system, he recognised that this approach would not fit correctly. “We didn’t want to do that. Northern Ireland has a rich resource of indigenous SMEs, often family-based businesses whose reputations are embedded within their communities, and we wanted to empower these local companies to embrace our wider ambitions, recognising the sense of ownership and efficiencies that this model would provide both then, and equally to the consumer facing considerations that decarbonisation will provide.”
Phoenix is now talking to its existing partners about its future plans and how they can help the gas utility achieve its new goal of decarbonising the gas network by doing things like installing hydrogen-ready boilers. Dixon explains that they have “leapt at the opportunity”.
Investing in the future
The Phoenix Group Chairman acknowledges that decarbonising the gas network will require significant investment but sees opportunity in parallel with the investment over the past 25 years.
“For instance, there are now over 70 AD [anaerobic digestion] plants in Northern Ireland however we will need multiples of that investment to optimise the opportunities that exist to convert our rich waste streams into biomethane, that can in turn be injected into the gas network. Hydrogen production infrastructure will equally require a sizeable amount of investment to realise the much sought-after prize of an increasingly self-sufficient, sustainable net zero energy system.
“That shouldn’t frighten Northern Ireland plc. We have done it before, and we have demonstrated to external investors that Northern Ireland is a good place to do business.”
The development of the gas industry has also been good for the wider regional economy. Indeed, without the arrival of natural gas, Dixon observes that many industries may have left Northern Ireland. A modern gas network also attracts new business investment with its reliable and flexible heating systems.
Employing nearly 2,500 people, the sector brings obvious environmental, economic and social benefits and has benefited the health of all citizens by removing harmful particulates from the atmosphere. Dixon believes that the investment in natural gas infrastructure has provided the province with “a sustainable bridge to the future” ahead of the implementation of low and no carbon gas solutions in the future.
Skills for the future
A key focus if Northern Ireland is to reach its decarbonisation ambitions centres on skills, with many recognising the urgency needed to develop skills now, for delivery in the future. Again, Dixon points to the past experience of Phoenix and its partners as an opportunity for learning in this regard.
“There were no skills in Northern Ireland to design, apply, specify and install natural gas,” he says. “We went to all the training centres and helped them invest in getting ready to train people in those skills. At the same time, we linked up with the local colleges and companies to deliver conversion programmes. We set out to achieve installation costs similar to those in Great Britain. We didn’t want higher costs, often associated with the introduction of new technologies, hindering the take up of natural gas.
“The new skills required for the next phase are really an extension of the skills that exist in the independent companies that currently install natural gas and leading boiler manufacturers have made significant progress on developing
hydrogen ready boiler solutions, which are being trialled in a number of largescale Great Britain trial projects and are anticipated to be available to the wider marketplace in the next couple of years.”
Dixon is keen to emphasise that the changes required to decarbonise the gas network, particularly in the short and medium term can be achieved with minimal impact to energy users thanks to the modern polyethylene gas network that has been built locally. Biomethane lends itself to be injected into the existing network without any change for the end user and indeed, 20 per cent of hydrogen can be accommodated with minimal change to the existing system. “We need to keep the conversion process and how we inform customers very simple: 98 per cent of what installers and consumers do will still be the same,” he states.
Biomethane injection is expected to start later this year, with two or three early adopters coming online and Dixon explains that injection at different parts of the network will support the emerging circular economy. The Department for the Economy’s new energy strategy makes funding available for pilot projects. At present all the demonstration projects are in Great Britain and Dixon believes “it is now critically important that we establish demonstration and trial projects locally” so that Northern Ireland can develop hands on learning and shape a wider renewable gas supply chain that will in turn accelerate the decarbonisation of homes and businesses in Northern Ireland.
Transition
Concluding on what success over the past 25 years means for Phoenix’s progress in the next quarter of a century, Dixon explains: “The availability of a modern gas network provides Northern Ireland with an enviable starting place from which to now progress to the next stage of energy transition, the displacement of natural gas with renewable gas solutions. In doing so the gas infrastructure can provide carbon zero solutions to a large cohort of homes and businesses locally, in a similar manner to that which consumers enjoy today, supporting a decarbonisation solution that minimises cost and disruption and delivers a resilient energy system that is built upon the existing potential within Northern Ireland’s indigenous energy landscape.
Dixon is confident that Phoenix’s legacy of attracting private investment to meet policy objectives provides a foundation for progress going forward. He is eager to point out that from a customer perspective, little will change as relationships with energy suppliers and network providers will have minimal disruption, while the average 15-20 year lifespan of a boiler lends itself to domestic infrastructure upgrades well before 2050.
“Nothing will change except for the gas in the pipe which will come from increasingly renewable sources,” he states. “However, for net-zero to be achieved, we have much work to do. I believe Phoenix can build on its success and progress of the past 25 years to meet the challenge head on, however, we will not do it alone and as we move forward, we will seek to constantly broaden the Phoenix family as we seek to provide renewable gas solutions to customers for the next 25 years and beyond, in the most efficient way possible.”
