Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent assessment the Committee on Climate Change has made of the economic costs and benefits of mitigating emissions in Northern Ireland.

Abatement opportunities in Northern Ireland (NI) were considered in the Committee on Climate Change's (CCC) November 2011 report ‘The appropriateness of a Northern Ireland Climate Change Act'. In addition, after receiving a request from the Department of Environment NI earlier this year, we have recently carried out a short scoping study to assess the available data, as well as appraise a number of options for estimating and reporting the economic implications of climate change mitigation. We are currently in discussion with the Department of Environment NI on how to take this forward.