Climate Change PMB ‘will cost families their livelihoods’ - Carla Lockhart

Carla Lockhart said:“The proposals included in Claire Bailey’s Climate Change Bill are absolutely disastrous for our agri-food sector, the very backbone of the Northern Ireland economy. It is beyond comprehension as to why MLAs from the UUP, SDLP, SF and Alliance Party, who all claim to support jobs and support our economic development, voted this Bill through second reading in the legislative process. If successful, the bottom line is that this Bill will cost families their livelihoods.

“We need to look at how we address emissions to protect our environment in tandem with protecting our economy. It should not, and does not have to be, a conflict between the two. A common sense way forward is what is needed. This should take into account our economic reliance on our family farm model and grassland resource, a fact that is already recognised as unique. Yet this bill fails to do that, instead pursuing a purist green agenda that shows no regard for the reality we face in Northern Ireland.

“We need those MLAs from the UUP, SDLP, SF and Alliance who supported this Bill to seriously reconsider the consequences of what they propose. They also need to look at the independent scientific advice. Do we really want to decimate our food production capability to instead import it on carbon creating flights or container ships from other countries who take environmental protection less seriously? It makes no sense.

“My colleague and Party Leader Designate Edwin Poots MLA, as DAERA Minister, is seeking to find the balance in his Climate Change Bill. It offers MLAs the chance to do the right thing, for the environment and farming families and those employed in our agri-food sector.

“I commend the UFU and all those organisations for their campaign and effective voice on this issue and trust that as the Bill moves to the next stage, MLAs will sit up, listen and rethink.”