To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to outline the rationale of proposed targets within the draft Environment Strategy, which differ from the UK Committee on Climate Change priority recommendations made in its June 2021 progress report in relation to reforestation.

The draft Environment Strategy reflects the Forests for Our Future afforestation programme’s target to achieve 9000 hectares of new woodland by 2030. The target is framed in respect of the UK’s fifth carbon budget, as stated in the 2019 UK Committee on Climate Change report ‘Reducing emissions in Northern Ireland’.

It also recognises the need to develop appropriate policies and actions to deliver the carbon budgets and meet the challenging reductions in emissions that are required. As part of the development of a Climate Action Plan for Northern Ireland my Department will identify a range of actions to deliver overall emission reductions across a range of sectors, including land use, land use change and forestry.