Members of the Stormont Agriculture Committee have raised no objections to proposed legislation from DAERA which will establish a new Just Transition Commission under the 2022 Climate Change Act.

The new commission will be an independent advisory non-departmental public body and is expected to have 16 members, to include three from agriculture and two from environmental groups.

Briefing committee members last Thursday, Jane Corderoy from DAERA said the main roles of the new Commission include oversight of climate action plans developed by government departments. Also, the new body will have a role in providing advice to ensure policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are fair to everyone.

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Fund

Separate to the legislation around establishing a Just Transition Commission, the 2022 climate change act also requires DAERA to put in place a Just Transition Fund for Agriculture.

In the current financial year there was an allocation of £12.3m of capital funding, which has been used to support schemes such as the Sustainable Use of Livestock Slurry (SULS) project and also the new Bovine Genetics Project, confirmed John Early from DAERA.

He also indicated that £36m has been allocated to the fund in a draft budget for the next financial year.