Environment and Agriculture.
Climate breakdown is the seismic global challenge facing this generation. Failure to take action now will result in significant changes to our global climate and weather patterns that will devastate developed and developing economies across the world, leaving millions destitute and poverty-stricken. Global warming is happening and at a much faster rate than anticipated. Extraordinary action is required to keep global temperature increases below 1.5 degrees Celsius and avert irreversible damage to our climate.
We know that this crisis will disproportionately affect those least able to bear the burden. Interventions designed to tackle the climate emergency must be robust, equitable and contribute to social justice more broadly. We cannot create a society that offers tax cuts to the wealthy while introducing new levies that disproportionately target the poor.
Accepting and addressing the causes of the climate crisis is critical to avoiding irreversible damage to ecosystems and economies. The SDLP and SDLP Youth believes that protecting the environment is not an expensive political hobby horse. It is a moral, economic and health imperative that, if planned and implemented correctly, can benefit people, communities and businesses. We need a green new deal and just transition that transforms our economy and helps prevent immediate climate breakdown.
Our Energy Policies.
SDLP Youth is campaigning for:
a ban on the granting of any license to carry out hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on the island of Ireland.
the Danish model of community-owned wind farms which are used to generate both electricity and local investment;for the introduction of legislation to remove non-rechargeable batteries from commercial sale in a similar move to that made by the Irish Government to eliminate incandescent lightbulbs.
the phasing out of all hidden subsidies for the fossil fuel industry.
the reform of the Warm Home Scheme to be more intertwined with green energy goals.
for the development of tidal and water energy generation.
the introduction of a market independent FIT subsidy system for renewable energy.
a spatial planning policy to be implemented for onshore wind.
community benefit and/or community ownership to be a mandatory prerequisite for energy development.
planning regulation to be reformed to allow for larger solar panels to be emplaced without seeking planning permission, in line with similar reforms in England.
a new tax to be placed on energy-inefficient products or products with a high energy consumption.
the implementation of a carbon tax for corporations failing to transfer to renewable energy.
the implementation of smart meters in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as is being carried out in England and Wales to allow for easy switching of energy markets.
the Spatial planning policies used in Wales to create onshore wind clusters across Northern Ireland and a simpler planning process for the renewable energy market.
Northern Ireland to move towards a Feed in Tariff policy for the subsidisation of renewable energy.
Our Environment Policies.
SDLP Youth is campaigning for:
emergency legislation incentivising the transition from a carbon-intensive to a carbon neutral economy by 2030 and support schemes to allow families to make informed decisions about a clean, green future.
coordinated action at inter-governmental level to deliver robust emissions reduction targets with an aim for carbon neutrality by 2030.
electric vehicle subsidy programmes with a view to ending the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030.
Reforming of planning rules to make climate change adaptation a material consideration for significant development proposals and introduce a biodiversity net gain approach to new development applications.
a tax of 25% on all packets of chewing gum. We propose that any funds collected through this tax will be ring-fenced for local beautification schemes.
a customer levy of 10 pence for every receipt requested at an ATM, in order to help prevent associated litter problems.
the full introduction of the recommendations of COP21 and the creation of a Northern Irish climate change bill.
a new effort to reduce landfill waste usage through a refocus on recycling.
tighter regulations to prevent pollution.
provisions for public parks and “green belt” preservation, such as the Titanic Greenway.
new North/South bodies for climate change and energy to be created to review cross border strategies for renewable energy and fuel poverty.
sustainable environmentally-friendly flood defences to tackle the increase in flooding being caused in Northern Ireland by climate change.
the Wild Atlantic Way to be extended to the north coast and to introduce a similar scheme for the east coast.
an end to any form of strip mining in the Sperrins mountains.
protecting Lough Neagh and the hills of Belfast from oil and gas exploration.
Our Agriculture, Agri-foods and Marine policies.
SDLP Youth is campaigning for:
alternative methods of subsidy which prioritise public goods including carbon sequestration, forest management and flood plain development.
the maintenance of EU standards, including on animal welfare, for any agricultural standards in any post-Brexit scenario.
the devolution of fishery policy.
a Food Waste Strategy similar to France in which supermarkets are under a legal obligation to offer any food that they are removing from stock, but has not yet gone off, to the homeless or to foodbanks.
