AQW 15621/22-27

Ms Connie Egan
Alliance Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 24/09/2024
Answered On Date: 13/11/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister whether they will bring forward legislation on managing coastal change and designate responsibility to a Department to oversee coastal risk management from climate change, as recommended by the Climate Change Committee report Adapting to climate change – Progress in Northern Ireland April 2023.

Answer:

The Climate Change Committee report ‘Adapting to climate change – Progress in Northern Ireland April 2023’ allocated a target to the Northern Ireland Executive, and not The Executive Office (TEO), to consider bringing forward legislation on managing coastal change and designate responsibility to a NICS department to oversee coastal risk management from climate change.

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) co-chair the Coastal Erosion Forum which is working collaboratively to address the challenges associated with coastal change. We have no plan to change this approach at this point.