AQW 18478/22-27


Mr John Blair
Alliance Party
South Antrim


Tabled Date: 20/11/2024
Answered On Date: 21/01/2025
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail any actions they are taking to address climate change within the Executive Office.


Answer:
As is the case with all departments, The Executive Office is bound by the overarching obligation of the Climate Change Act (NI) 2022 to achieve Net Zero by 2050.
The Act has also placed a specific requirement on this department to establish the office of the NI Climate Commissioner. Once established, the Commissioner will play a critical role in overseeing our transition to a low-carbon economy.
The regulations which will allow for the establishment of the Commissioner were recently considered by the Committee for Agriculture, the Environment and Rural Affairs, and the Committee for the Executive Office. They will soon make their way to the Assembly for consideration.
The Executive Office is a relatively small department that does not have responsibility for policies and programmes capable of significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions to address climate change in isolation, however, we do have measures in place to help reduce emissions and improve energy efficiency where we can.
Official cars within the department have recently been switched to hybrid vehicles. In line with the NI Executive’s commitment to the COP26 Joint Declaration, the department will work towards all new cars being zero emissions by no later than 2035.
In addition to this, our Departmental Premises Officers’ energy management and energy related responsibilities include implementing, within their respective buildings, departmental strategies and policies in relation to the efficient use of energy, which contributes to departments’ sustainability initiatives. This includes a commitment to raise awareness, through the publication of intranet articles and sustainability themed briefings. Sustainable behaviours are promoted through encouraging staff to travel by sustainable methods such as the Cycle to Work initiatives, car sharing, car parking spaces with electric charging points, and the mandatory use of recycled paper from legal and sustainable sources.
Furthermore, Departmental Premises Officers in larger buildings have access to a building energy management interface to provide direct access to temperature variables and overtime settings.  This provides a facility for Premises Officers to fine tune temperature settings to reduce energy consumption, consequently reducing Helpdesk calls. Heating is thermostatically controlled so that radiators shut off when optimum office temperatures are achieved.
Finally, Lighting within buildings is being converted to more energy efficient LED fittings to reduce energy consumption, and offices are being fitted with sensors to automatically turn lights off when no movement is detected.