Adapting to Climate Change

In common with other Departments and Agencies, NIEA recognises that its statutory functions and objectives are subject to pressures and impacts which may be affected by climate change.

It is therefore necessary to assess the vulnerabilities of NIEA activities to climate change and in the longer term develop adaptation strategies to address these.

Such impacts range across all the NIEA Directorates and include regulatory processes, implementation of the Water Framework Directive, and meeting biodiversity targets. NIEA will need to adapt to ensure that its activities take account of climate change predictions based on the best available scientific evidence and where necessary our objectives and targets may need to be amended in line with anticipated climate change pressures.

The Northern Ireland Climate Change Impacts Partnership (NICCIP)

NICCIP has been set up following recommendations for such an arrangement in the 2007 SNIFFER report 'Preparing for Climate Change in Northern Ireland'. Its purpose is to bring together key stakeholders in Northern Ireland to secure a shared goal of building resilience and readiness to meet the threats and opportunities presented by a changing climate.

NIEA is represented on this group, which provides a forum for interdepartmental, interagency and stakeholder discussion and progression of climate change issues. Further information on the work of NICCIP can be found at the SNIFFER website.

Recently, a survey of public views on climate change was included in the Northern Ireland Omnibus Survey of January 2009 and the results were published by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency on September 10th 2009.

NIEA is committed to increasing public awareness of what everyone can do to reduce negative impacts, including climate change, on the environment and funded this section of the Omnibus survey as part of its ongoing commitment to the work of the Northern Ireland Climate Change Impacts Partnership (NICCIP).

NIEA activity related to climate changes and the DOE Sustainable Operations Action Plan

NIEA inputs to the DOE Sustainable Operations Action Plan. As a manager of key sites such as country parks, NIEA has a policy of conserving energy use and procuring electricity from renewable sources. In one specific project, NIEA has collaborated with the Carbon Trust in relation to restoring hydroelectric power at Roe Valley Country Park. The project, currently under development, will inform practice for similar projects across NI. These activities have arisen from NIEA’s environmental management system development and in part will contribute to the sustainable development target of making the Government estate Carbon neutral by 2015.

The Sustainable Development Strategy is accessible from the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister website.