Northern Ireland has taken a huge step in its climate change journey by joining a global climate change network.

The region has joined the Under2 Coalition and signed up to the new Memorandum of Understanding.

DAERA Minister Edwin Poots welcomed the region's commitment to climate action.

Minister Poots said: "The Under2 Coalition is a global community of states and regional governments committed to ambitious climate action in line with the Paris Agreement. Joining provides regions like Northern Ireland, who are not signatory parties to the Paris Agreement in their own right, the opportunity to show their commitment and ambition for tackling climate change. Earlier this year I wrote to my Executive colleagues to seek their agreement for Northern Ireland to join and all responses received were positive."

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The Under2 Coalition currently brings together 260 governments, represents 1.75 billion people and 50% of the global economy. Governments signed up to Under2 can access technical support and resources to assist in developing long-term emissions reduction plans.

Minister added: "Tackling climate change is a key priority for my Department and the Northern Ireland Executive and we are driving forward action to ensure that Northern Ireland, as part of the UK, leads by example on the global stage to deliver towards the Paris Agreement goals.

"To do this, my Department has led on the development of a cross-cutting multi-decade Green Growth strategy on behalf of the entire Northern Ireland Executive which my Department recently launched for public consultation. The Green Growth Strategy sets out the long-term vision and a solid framework for tackling the climate crisis, helping us meet our targets, and feed into the UK's goal of achieving net zero by 2050."