Advice about proposed regulations relating to budgets
58.—(1) This section applies where—
(a)the Department proposes to make regulations, under any provision of this Act, that set or change a carbon budget for a budgetary period, and
(b)the Committee on Climate Change provides advice under section 56.
(2) The Committee’s advice must include the Committee’s opinion as to—
(a)the appropriate level of the carbon budget for the period;
(b)the extent to which the carbon budget for the period should be met—
(i)by reducing the amount of net Northern Ireland emissions of greenhouse gases, or
(ii)by the use of carbon units that, in accordance with regulations made under section 11, may be credited to the net Northern Ireland emissions account for the period;
(c)the respective contributions towards meeting the carbon budget for the period that should be made—
(i)by the sectors of the Northern Ireland economy covered by trading schemes (taken as a whole);
(ii)by the sectors of the Northern Ireland economy not so covered (taken as a whole);
(d)the sectors of the Northern Ireland economy in which there are particular opportunities for contributions to be made towards meeting the carbon budget for the period through reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases.
(3) When giving advice in accordance with this section, the Committee must have regard to the following matters—
(a)United Kingdom and international law or policy relating to climate change,
(b)scientific knowledge about climate change, and
(c)technology relevant to climate change.
(4) In subsection (2)(c), “trading schemes” has the meaning given by section 44 of the Climate Change Act 2008.