Climate Change Bill: How did your local MLA vote?

Thousands of letters from farmers across Northern Ireland warning the proposed Climate Change Bill could decimate the region's agricultural industry appear to have fallen on deaf ears as politicians voted the bill through its second stage.

The Ulster Farmers' Union lobbied politicians and urged members to write to their local MLAs to warn of the bill's potential impact. It's understood a template letter drafted by the union was downloaded more than 4,500 times. It's not known how many farmers went on to send it to their local representatives, however, dozens claimed to have done so online.

Related Stories

If passed, the Climate Change Bill would legislate a net-zero target for Greenhouse Gas emissions for Northern Ireland by 2050.

Critics of the bill warn this puts "unreasonable demands" on the region's farming industry and risks simply off-shoring food production to parts of the world where farming is less sustainable.

However, despite the warnings, the Climate Change Bill was tabled by Green Party leader Clare Bailey and passed its second stage with 58 ayes to 29 noes on Monday night (May 10).

The bill will now move on to the committee stage for more detailed scrutiny before returning for further consideration.

Ulster Farmers' Union president Victor Chestnutt said he could only hope MLAs would make amendments to the bill to lessen its impact.

But how did your local MLA vote? Agriland has the full breakdown of all 90 MLAs, including those who did not attend, by constituency below.

Share this article