Ulster Unionist Deputy Leader and Agriculture Spokesperson Diana Armstrong MLA has responded to DAERA Minister Andrew Muir's keynote address to the Environment Ireland Conference at Croke Park on Thursday, in which he insisted there can be "no rolling back on climate action".

Diana Armstrong MLA said:

“The Minister told the Environment Ireland Conference on Thursday that there can be no rolling back. What there can be no rolling back on is reality, and the reality is that these targets are not working for Northern Ireland.

“Climate change is real and Ulster Unionists have never argued otherwise. Where I part company with the Minister is his refusal to accept what is obvious to almost everyone outside his Department. Targets that cannot be met do not reduce a single tonne of emissions. They hold up development, deter investment, and load the burden onto the sector least able to carry it.

“The Minister told delegates we must stand up for science, and warned that denial and deflection only delay difficult decisions. I agree with every word of that, and I would ask him to apply it to himself. The Climate Change Committee advised that Northern Ireland's fair contribution was an 82% reduction rather than net zero, precisely because of the structure of our agriculture sector. Standing up for science means being willing to revisit a target when the evidence says it cannot be met.

“Scotland faced this squarely. When the Climate Change Committee advised that its 2030 target was no longer credible, ministers accepted it and legislated to replace annual and interim targets with five-yearly carbon budgets, while keeping the net zero commitment intact. That was a government of the SNP and the Greens. Nobody called it climate denial. It was honesty.

“Our beef and dairy are among the most carbon efficient in the world and over 60% of our farm produce is exported. Cutting production here does not cut global emissions, it moves them somewhere less efficient and less accountable. Review the targets, revise them, and keep the commitment. That is not rolling back. Refusing to look at the evidence, and casting everyone who raises it as a denier, is its own kind of denial.”