Agenda and minutes

Apologies were reported on behalf of Councillors Collins and Groogan.

            The minutes of the meeting of 9th October were taken as read and signed as correct.  It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 3rd November.

            There were no declarations of interest.

            he Committee agreed to meet on the following dates and times in 2026:

·         Thursday 15th January at 5.15 pm;

·         Thursday 12th February at 5.15 pm;

·         Thursday 12th March at 5.15 pm;

·         Thursday 16th April at 5.15 pm;

·         Thursday 14th May at 5.15 pm;

·         Thursday 11th June at 5.15 pm;

·         Thursday 13th August at 5.15 pm;

·         Thursday 10th September at 5.15 pm;

·         Thursday 8th October at 5.15 pm;

·         Thursday 12th November at 5.15 pm; and

·         Thursday 10th December at 5.15 pm.

            The information contained in the report associated with the following item is restricted in accordance with Part 1 of Schedule 6 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.

      Resolved – That the Committee agrees to exclude the members of the press and public from the meeting during discussion of the following six items as, due to the nature of the items, there would be a disclosure of exempt information as described in Section 42(4) and Schedule 6 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.

            The Members were advised that content of ‘restricted’ reports and any discussion during closed session must be treated as ‘confidential information’ and no such information should be disclosed to the public as per Paragraph 4.15 of the Code of Conduct.  

(Mr. C. Quinn, Customer Development Manager, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Committee was reminded that officers had been working in partnership with the contractor Eunomia to develop an initial Single Use Plastic (SUP) Policy and Action Plan for the Council. That process had been undertaken by analysing data to identify the actions that would form the basis of the Policy and Action Plan, which had been overseen by a corporate working group in accordance with best practice.

            The Customer Development Manager outlined the principal aspects of the Policy and Action Plan and indicated that the specific actions were aimed at reducing the use of single use plastic across the organisation. The Action Plan, he explained, had been structured in accordance with three strategic themes, that being, to reduce the Council’s reliance on single use plastic; the objective of working with suppliers and contractors to address the issue; and how the Council could work with the community in this regard. In addition, he pointed out, each of the strategic themes contained ten core objectives with associated actions to measure the effectiveness of the Policy and Action Plan.

            The Committee commended officers on the work which they had undertaken and, after further discussion, approved the Single Use Plastic Policy and Action Plan and:

·        noted the progress of the cross-departmental working group, with the initial focus on Council use/working with suppliers and contractors;

·        noted that future workstreams would require action to be undertaken by event organisers and organisations using Council facilities;

·        noted that consideration would be given to undertaking a public consultation exercise in advance of the implementation of future workstreams;

·        noted the indicative cost implications in progressing the SUP Action Plan in the 2025/26 financial year; and

·        noted that the working group had submitted a response to DAERA’s Plastic Pollution Plan for Northern Ireland, which had been placed on the agenda for the Committee’s approval.

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 12th June, it had deferred consideration of a report relating to the above-mentioned motion to enable a further report to be submitted that would outline the cost implications to the Council should the motion be adopted in full. The further report mentioned above is set out hereunder:

1.0          Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

1.1       To respond to the Notice of Motion referred to this Committee by the Standards and Business Committee on 22nd May 2025 in relation to Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and the request to investigate cost implications made at Climate and City Resilience Committee on 12th June 2025.

2.0       Recommendation

2.1       Members are asked to note that, in accordance with Standing Orders, Notices of Motion which commit the Council to expenditure or fall within the remit of a particular Committee must be referred to the appropriate committee for consideration and report. 

At this time Members are asked to note the outline consideration of the Notice of Motion and potential cost implications.

3.0       Main Report

3.1       The following Motion was referred to the Climate and City Resilience Committee at its meeting on 12 June 2025

Motion: Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

“Recognising Northern Ireland’s commitment to achieve net zero by 2050, (and Belfast City Council’s previous motion recognising a climate emergency), Belfast City Council will endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, an initiative to secure an international and legally binding treaty to phase out fossil fuels and will write to the Northern Ireland Executive as well as the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero urging them to support this initiative.”

Proposer: Councillor Anthony Flynn

Seconder: Councillor Brian Smyth 

The Motion calls upon the Council to endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and to write to the Northern Ireland Executive, the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero urging them to support this initiative.

3.2       Consideration of the Notice of Motion

The Notice of Motion to endorse the Non-Proliferation of Fossil Fuel Treaty has been considered by officers within the Climate team in terms of its effectiveness and potential cost implications.

3.3       Endorsing the Treaty means supporting the three central commitments: that being, ending the expansion of fossil fuel production; setting and equitable path to phase out existing coal, oil and gas; and ensuring a just transition for communities and workers affected by the energy shift.

3.4       Under The treaty, as a developed economy, Northern Ireland will be expected to phase out faster than less developed countries. The commitments in the Treaty compliment the obligations in the Paris Agreement. As of October 2025, sixteen countries and more than 130 cities (including 8 UK cities) and sub-national governments have officially endorsed the Treaty. The UK and Ireland have not officially endorsed the Treaty.

3.5       The Notice of Motion is aligned with the Council’s ambition of achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050. The ending of fossil fuel expansion is considered to be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

            The Committee endorsed a response to the above-mentioned consultation exercise. The response can be accessed within the attached link.