To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to protect oceans as part of work to tackle the climate emergency.

Climate change has been identified as one of the main pressures affecting the UK marine environment and the world’s oceans. As warming of the global oceanographic and atmospheric systems is attributed to greenhouse gas emissions, the most important steps that can be taken to protect oceans is action that contributes towards achieving the net zero goal of the Paris Agreement.

Currently, the UK Marine Policy Statement and the draft Marine Plan for Northern Ireland require all public authorities to consider the potential impact of proposals on greenhouse gas emissions and the proposals’ ability to adapt to a changing climate. While this is an important consideration, it will be strengthened by the work my Department is undertaking on a Climate Change Bill, with the aim to bring forward a Northern Ireland Climate Change Act that will introduce legally binding emissions reduction targets.

For the UK’s marine environment, climate change impacts include relative sea level rise, increased sea water temperatures, ocean acidification and changes in ocean circulation. These will have a range of effects on different aspects of marine ecosystems and my Department is collaborating with the other UK administrations to prepare an updated UK Marine Strategy programme of measures. This will set out the actions needed to achieve Good Environmental Status, including measures relating to climate change mitigation and adaption, and will be subject to public consultation later in 2021.

My Department is also progressing actions that have been identified in the Climate Change Risk Assessment 2017 and the subsequent Northern Ireland Climate Change Adaptation Programme 2019-24. Research has been commissioned from AFBI that will (1) consider the impacts of ocean acidification and higher water temperatures on Irish Sea ecosystems; and (2) assess the impact of future climate change scenarios on the Northern Ireland fishing and aquaculture industry, and identify the adaptation measures that need to be taken.

Blue carbon habitats are marine and coastal habitats that are important for carbon storage. To understand the contribution that blue carbon habitats make, and to ensure that all carbon stores are accounted for in the greenhouse gas inventory, my Department is commissioning research to quantify the stores and flows of blue carbon in the Northern Ireland marine environment. My Department has also invested in a feasibility study to identify potential areas for blue carbon habitat restoration. These projects will inform the development of strategies relating to blue carbon, including the Environment Strategy and Green Growth Strategy.