Agenda and minutes

            No apologies were reported.

            The minutes of the meeting of 11th September 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 October.

            No declarations of interest were recorded.

            (Ms. M. Quigley, Adaptation and Resilience Advisor, attended in connection with these two items.)

The Chairperson welcomed Mr. G. Morrison and Mr. P. Kelly, Brink!, to the meeting.

Together they outlined that Brink! was dedicated to addressing climate breakdown through discussion, education, and action. ? They used art and citizen science to explore innovative ways of living in a rapidly changing environment. ?They encouraged individuals to rethink urban spaces, highlighting their recent “meanwhile use” of the Belfast Stories site within the city centre.

They advised the Committee that they had hosted workshops, panels, and community events to engage participants in meaningful conversations and hands-on activities to develop skills to build a sustainable future.  They promoted sustainable practices such as reducing waste, rethinking consumption, and empowering communities to take action. ? The Members were advised that Brink! aimed to inspire change and invited people to join the movement and to contribute to the transformation of their city.

In response to a number of Members’ questions as to what was next for Brink! and how the Council could help, the representatives explained that, while the meanwhile use of the Belfast Stories site was undoubtedly a success, available sites were difficult to come by, highlighting there was often a lot of bureaucracy and delays in the way of making progress with such projects.

In response to a further Member’s point, they outlined that they had had discussions with the Cathedral Quarter Trust in respect of the North Street Arcade.

A further Member asked whether they had worked with local schools in respect of local growing.  They explained that they had trialled reaching out to a number of different age groups but that schools, in particular, had significantly more health and safety requirements in regards to reaching a city centre site with uneven ground, for example.  They stated, however, that, given more lead in time, they would be happy to work with local schools on such projects.

The Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, thanked the representatives for their presentation and they retired from the meeting.

Noted.

The Chairperson welcomed Ms. R. McCabe (Involve), Mr. I. McArthur and Ms. J. Holmes, to the meeting.

            Ms. McCabe, Head of Northern Ireland at Involve, explained that the "Our Future Treescapes" public dialogue had brought together 48 members of the public from across the UK to envision the future of trees, woodlands, and forests over the next 50 years.  The participants, including Mr. McArthur and Ms. Holmes in NI, had been selected through a civic lottery and had engaged in a four-month process involving place-based and online sessions to explore how treescapes could meet environmental, societal, and individual needs.

            The Committee was advised that six principles and 15 calls to action had been developed specifically for Belfast, focusing on fair access, public involvement, and sustainable treescape management.  The representatives reported that the recommendations resulting from the process included promoting locally sourced seeds, education initiatives, public engagement strategies and intentional planting. The conversations had emphasised collaboration among local authorities, Non - Governmental Organisations, schools and communities to ensure long-term resilience and ecological benefits.  The Members were advised that the programme aimed

to support local projects, share findings with decision-makers, and promote treescape expansion through advocacy and education.

            In response to a Member’s questions, Ms. McCabe confirmed that they were liaising with Mr. Conor McKinney, Wild Belfast, regarding the National Park City initiative.

            In response to a further Member’s question, Mr. McArthur and Ms. Holmes stated that they had been delighted to have participated in the initiative and that the model of dialogue had been incredibly interesting, having heard from so many different perspectives, and that they had been able to come up with practical solutions and plans for the future. 

            The Adaptation and Resilience Advisor advised the Committee that it had been energising to be involved in the project and that the Council had clear actions through it’s Climate Action Plan.

            A further number of Members stated that it was important to recognise that the young people were taking ownership and pride in their City and that they were often ahead of the curve in terms of Climate action.  They commended those Council staff who were working within the community to engage young people in activities such as tree planting.

            The Chairperson thanked the representatives for their presentation and they retired from the meeting.

Noted.

            The Director of City and Organisational Strategy presented the Members with four Notices of Motion/Issues Raised in Advance for which the Committee was responsible.

            In relation to the Motion “New Ireland Forum and Citizens Assemblies”, a Member requested that a further follow up letter be sent to the Taoiseach, given that no response had been received to date.

After discussion the Committee:

1.     noted the updates to the Notices of Motion / Issues Raised in Advance for which Climate and City Resilience Committee was responsible; and

2.     agreed to issue a further follow up letter to the Taoiseach regarding the New Ireland Forum and Citizens Assemblies.

            (Ms. B. Roddy, Project Support Officer (Climate), attended in connection with this item.)

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0       Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

1.1         The purpose of this report is to inform members about the recent public consultation on the Draft NI Climate Action Plan 2023-2027

2.0         Recommendation

                                             I.           Members are asked to note the proposals set out in the consultation document and to approve the draft Council response as attached at appendix 1. Subject to approval by Council, the response will be submitted to DAERA via their online consultation platform.

                                           II.          Approve the officer response that was submitted by Belfast City Council to the public consultation which closed on 8th October 2025.

3.0         Main Report

3.1         Background

             The Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 committed Northern Ireland to reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to net zero by 2050, with a series of five year carbon budgets set to ensure steady progress from the outset. In December 2024, the Executive agreed that for the period of this plan, 2023-2027, GHG gas emissions need to be reduced by an annual average of 33% from 1990 levels.

             Importantly, the Act places a specific legal duty on all Northern Ireland departments to exercise their functions, as far as possible, in a way that supports achieving targets and carbon budgets. This ensures a shared responsibility both to reduce emissions through policies and proposals included in this plan and to monitor any likely impact on emissions of emerging policies and proposals during this first carbon budget period, 2023-2027.

             The draft Climate Action Plan sets out 52 policies and proposals designed to reduce emissions across nine sectors:

·        energy production and supply;

·        transport;

·        business and industrial processes;

·        residential buildings;

·        public buildings;

·        waste management;

·        agriculture;

·        land use, land-use change and forestry; and

·        fisheries.

             Some sectors are expected to contribute more than others; some policies and proposals have a greater impact than others; some contribute to emissions savings across more than one sector. Together, these policies and proposals set a roadmap of action needed to reduce emissions and keep Northern Ireland on track for future targets. Policies and programmes referenced also vary in terms of states of readiness, with some well established and others still under development.

             The CAP attempts to quantity the potential GHG emission reductions that the 52 policies and programmes might result in, with analysis based on a number of stretching assumptions.

3.2         Draft Council Response

             Overall, the approach of the CAP’s policies and proposals outlined is welcomed and supported, as is the recognition by DAERA that without adequate, secured funding and political and public backing, achieving the carbon budget will be challenging. Within the draft consultation response, a number of key points and recommendations were made, as summarised below.

·        Energy - we welcomed more detail on the proposed Renewable Electricity Support Scheme for Northern Ireland but cautioned that without a complementary additional policy towards storage, it could lead to higher electricity bills for consumers and additional challenges for the grid operator.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

            (Mr. O. Crolly, Local Energy Systems Advisor, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Chairperson welcomed Mr. O. Crolly, Local Energy Systems Advisor, to his first Committee meeting.

            He presented the following report to the Committee:

“1.0      Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

1.1       To update members on the completion of the Belfast Net Zero Pathfinder project.

2.0       Recommendation

2.1       The Committee is asked to note that:

                                          I.          the project ended on 31st July 2025 with the completion of six strategic work packages which have helped de-risk two of the priority projects identified in the city's Local Area Energy Plan (LAEP), namely the heat network and rooftop solar;

                                         II.          The outputs of the project been used to develop a new funding bid, for round 3 of Pathfinders Net Zero Living funding from Innovate UK with a decision expected in Oct 2025.

3.0       Main Report

3.1       Background

            The Pathfinders Net Zero Living project kicked off in June 2024 with £149,964 secured in funding to help de-risk two key energy interventions listed within the Local Area Energy Plan as priority projects for Belfast. Belfast City Council worked in partnership with the Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) to deliver the work packages. The two key energy interventions were the city centre heat network and rooftop solar deployment.

3.2       To address non-technical barriers, the project focused on market readiness, organisational capacity, business model clarity, legal and commercial frameworks and community opportunities. The project was structured into 6 distinct work packages. The Summary Report, attached as an Appendix gives more detail on each work package and the overall project.

3.3       Work Package 1: Project assessment

·        Established project definitions, scoped two priority projects and analysed non-technical barriers.

3.4       Work Package 2: Market readiness assessment

·        Provided an understanding of the readiness of market actors (potential off-takers, investors, supply chain stakeholders etc) to engage and deliver decarbonisation projects ESC conducted structured interviews with various market actors.

·        Identified market constraints and off-taker requirements.

3.5       Work Package 3: Stakeholder capacity

·        Knowledge sharing across city-wide working groups and an internal council working group. 

3.6       Work Package 4: Commercial viability and route to finance 

·        WP4a Business model analysis assessed the viability of various rooftop solar business model, with the innovative portfolio PPA for rooftop solar aggregation included.

·        WP4b Legal and Commercial arrangements provided analysis of potential delivery vehicles for a Belfast City Centre heat network, with the JV ESCo and Golden Share emerging as the most favourable.

3.7       Work Package 5: Community Opportunities

·        Assessed opportunities for net zero investments (heat network or significant uptake of solar PV) to upskill /empower excluded groups and identified ways to support underrepresented groups to communities.

3.8       Work Package 6: Impact Assessment

·        Assessed the economic, environmental and social impacts associated with the implementation of the heat network and rooftop solar interventions. 

3.9       The BCC Working Group continues to support delivery and the work is coordinated at the City level through the Belfast Net Zero group which reports into the Our Planet Board. This work is also a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.