Building a carbon neutral A5 is ‘unrealistic’, says minister

The steps required to make the proposed A5 upgrade carbon neutral would be unrealistic to achieve, the Infrastructure minister has said.

Liz Kimmins’ comments in the Assembly came ahead of her department’s appeal against a court ruling that the construction of the new road should not go ahead in its current form.

In June, Mr Justice McAlinden quashed the Stormont Executive’s move to approve the £1.2 billion dualling scheme following a legal challenge from a group including residents, farmers and landowners.

The judge said the proposals breached sections of Northern Ireland’s Climate Change Act as they did not demonstrate how they would comply with the commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

In the Assembly on Tuesday, the minister was asked by SDLP MLA Justin McNulty about a claim by the Mineral Products Association that the project could have been the “first carbon-neutral dual carriageway/motorway” on the island of Ireland if the “proper procedures had been followed” in respect of using recycled materials and other climate-related measures.

Ms Kimmins said she was aware of the association’s assertion but she said she had a “different perspective”.

She said her department had complied with “industry standard” guidance to mitigate the climate impact of the project.

But the minister insisted achieving full carbon neutrality would not have been “practical or reasonable”, noting that it would have required the vesting of “significant areas” of additional land to plant trees to offset the carbon generated by both the construction and use of the upgraded road.

“Since its inception, the A5 scheme has adhered to appropriate procedures regarding carbon management and greenhouse gas assessments,” she said.

“These procedures have consistently reflected the application of evolving, relevant standards, best practice guidance and legislation.

“However, this did not conclude in a carbon neutral dual carriageway.

“These procedures instructed the assessment and reporting of climate related impacts within the environmental documentation for public consultation and the identification of proposed mitigation measures to reduce these impacts.

“However, based upon the size and the nature of the scheme, it’s expected that both the construction and the operational phases will generate emissions as reported within the GHG (greenhouse gas) assessments prepared by my department to mitigate the impacts further.

“To achieve full carbon neutrality through balancing emissions from the construction, operation and use of the road by removing a corresponding amount of GHGs from the atmosphere would require extensive mitigation, such as vesting very significant areas of additional land for planting etc.

“Such measures would be disproportionate when compared to the land required to construct the A5 and such an approach would neither be practical or reasonable and would be actually unrealistic to achieve.”

There have been more than 50 deaths on the A5, which links Londonderry with Aughnacloy in Co Tyrone, since 2006.

A scheme to turn the road into a dual carriageway was first approved by the Executive in 2007, but it has been held up by legal challenges and uncertainty over funding ever since.

When he delivered his judgment in June, Justice McAlinden said he was aware it would bring “significant, fresh anguish to the doors of those who have been injured and maimed and those who have lost loved ones as a result of road traffic accidents on the existing A5 road”.

The judge added: “However, the decision to proceed with the scheme must be taken in accordance with the law and the principle of the rule of law cannot be subverted, even if the motivation for doing so is to achieve what is deemed to constitute a clear societal benefit.”