Agenda and minutes

No apologies were reported

            The minutes of the meeting of 12th March were taken as read and signed as correct.  It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 1st April.

            No declarations of interest were recorded.

The Chairperson welcomed Ms. Sara McCracken and Ms. Mary Corfield, The Climate Coalition, to the meeting.  Ms. McCracken provided the Committee with an overview of the Great Big Green Week, where more than a million people would come together, from 6th to 14th June, to take action for their communities, for nature and for the climate.  She outlined that, from repair cafés and nature walks to community clean-ups and film screenings, people everywhere could come together for good and make a real difference to their communities.  In 2025, she explained that more than 1.2 million people had taken part and they wanted to increase the number of participants this year.  She advised the Committee that they would love to work alongside the Council on any relevant projects.

            In response to a Member’s question, the Climate Commissioner outlined that there were a number of sustainability and climate-related projects which the Council was involved in and that it could work with the Corporate Communications team to highlight the positive things which the Council was working on throughout the Great Big Green Week.

            In response to a further Member’s question, Ms. McCracken explained that they were working on reaching out to as many schools as possible and that she had met with the Eco Schools team.  She highlighted that there were free school resource packs available on their website, containing curriculum linked activities for various ages.  It was agreed that the link would be circulated to the Committee.

            A further Member queried whether the school resource packs were available in Irish.  Ms. McCracken advised that they were currently only available in English and Welsh but that she would be happy to take that suggestion back to her team for future consideration.

            Moved by Councillor Groogan,

            Seconded by Councillor T. Brooks and

      Resolved – that the Committee agreed:

·     that an ILLUMINATE request be considered by the Director of Legal and Civic Services to light up City Hall, marking the start of the Great Big Green Week, 6th-14th June, 2026; and

·     that the Council’s Corporate Communications Team would work with the Great Big Green Week to promote and showcase the relevant projects that the Council is working on, through its social media channels.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report or Summary of Main Issues

1.1       To inform members of the requirements for the Council’s Climate Adaptation Report that was submitted to DAERA by the statutory deadline of 31st March 2026.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to note:

                                          I.          that the Council is required to submit an adaptation report 31st March 2026 covering a 4 year period from 1st Jan 2026;

                                         II.          that the contents of the report must outline the current and predicted climate change impacts in relation to the Council’s functions i.e. a climate change impact assessment along with the Council’s adaptation targets and priority actions;

                                       III.          that the priority actions are based on the Northern Ireland Climate Change Adaptation Programmes 2 and 3, the Council’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) and any additional adaptation work taking place across Council;

                                       IV.          That all actions submitted in the report are outlined below;

                                        V.          that the adaptation report was submitted to DAERA on the mandatory deadline of 31st March and is attached as an appendix to this report.

3.0       Main report

3.1       Background

            In June 2024 members were informed of the Public Body Reporting Requirements under the NI Climate Act 2022. Section 42 of the Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 requires DAERA to make new Regulations, which will place climate change reporting duties on specified public bodies. The regulations came into operation in early May 2024, 21 days after they were laid in the Assembly. The first report required under the regulations, the mitigation report was submitted to DAERA in October 2025. The Council was required to prepare and submit an adaptation report for submission by 31st March 2026.  

3.2       The first adaptation report must cover the 4 year period beginning 1st January 2026 and include:

·        an assessment of the current and predicted impact of climate change in relation to the organisation’s functions; and

·        the proposals and policies for adapting to climate change in the exercise of its functions, along with implementation timescales.

3.3       The second and subsequent reports are required every 5 years and will include an assessment of the progress the body has made towards implementing the proposals and policies set out in any previous climate change adaptation reports.

            Report Contents

3.4       The adaptation report includes information under six headings.

§  Part 1: Profile – information about the organisation.

§  Part 2: Governance – what governance structures exist in Council to manage adaptation, strategies and plans that integrate adaptation planning and what objectives relate to it.

§  Part 3 – Impacts: the Council’s climate risk assessment including the methodology and findings.

§  Part 4 – Actions: the Council’s adaptation targets and priority actions and how this relates to the NICCAP.

§  Part 5 – Case Studies: inclusion of up to 5 case studies that illustrate best practice being undertaken by Council.

§  Part 6 – Validation and Authorisation: validated findings (i.e. through peer review or external experts) and authorisation of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.