Agenda item

            The Director provided the Committee with an update on the work which had been undertaken with stakeholders, as part of a community engagement programme in order to update priority action areas within the Belfast Agenda.

            The Director highlighted the significant community engagement programme which had been undertaken to ensure that the priorities were consistent with the needs of the city and that it had both community and business support.

            The Committee was provided with an outline of the detailed processes associated with each phase of the engagement and participation programme. The Director stated that the ethos associated with a compassionate city incorporated with inclusive growth were key components of the Belfast Agenda. The Members were informed of a major addition to Belfast Agenda, in terms of climate change, and the objective to achieve a reduction in carbon emissions by eighty per cent, by 2025.

            The Director referred to the five themes contained within the Belfast Agenda comprising:

1.      Our People and Communities

2.      Our Economy

3.      Our Place

4.      Our Environment and

5.      A Compassionate City

            The Committee was informed that the Belfast Agenda did not sit in isolation from regional government policy and should be viewed in that context. The Director emphasised the importance attached to securingcollaboration with partner organisations, including the Executive, to deal with issues such as health inequality and Community and Neighbourhood Regeneration, alongside ensuring a just transition to net-zero.

            The Climate Commissioner highlighted a range of interventions which had been undertaken, as part of the Climate agenda including, the ‘’Our Planet’’ area of focus, including decarbonisation projects. She referred also to the delivery of two retrofit projects in deprived areas and the operation of the Artemis net-zero ferry service.

            The Climate Commissioner reinforced the need to ensure a just transition to net zero and of the need to ensure that both the public and business sectors and society, in general, were on board if behavioural change to achieve net-zero was to be achieved.

            The Director reported that it was anticipated to launch the Belfast Agenda refresh on 20th March 2024 and emphasised the need for a multi-agency collaborative approach if the ambitions with the Belfast Agenda were to be realised and targets met.

            In response to a question from a Member, as to reason for the restriction of the item under the heading, ‘Shared Island Community Climate Action Fund’, the Director agreed that it would be possible to disaggregate the report to exclude the commercially sensitive elements and present the modified report to a future meeting of the Committee, in a non-restricted format.

            In response to a further question in regard to the lack of infrastructure for electric vehicle charging and what the Council might do to support infrastructure in that regard, the Climate Commissioner reported that the nature of lease agreements and revenue streams associated with EV charging required to be considered at a strategic level and agreed to report back to the Committee, at a future date, on how the issue identified might be progressed.

            A Member raised the issue of support for community energy projects the subject matter of which which the Member had submitted a previous motion to the Council. The Member requested information on how such projects could be developed, with particular reference to the most economically and socially deprived areas of the city. In response, the Climate Commissioner stated that she would submit a report to a future meeting of the Committee on how the Council might expand and develop those projects in an endeavour to support a just transition and meet its net zero commitments.

            A Member raised a question in regard to how the city might incorporate its ambitions to become net-zero, within the Belfast Agenda, and highlighted its success, to date, in that regard. In response, the Director reported that the carbon disclosure project, which had provided the city an ‘A’ rating, was a major achievement towards the recognition of the city’s green credentials. The Committee was reminded of the ‘Pathway to net zero’ being an integral part of the Belfast Agenda. The Climate Commissioner reported also that Belfast was rated eleventh in the global sustainability index, which sent a clear and unequivocal message of the city’s commitment to a sustainable, net-zero economy.

            In response to a request from a Member to have a simplified graphical representation of where the Council was on its various themes contained within the Belfast Agenda and prior to a the publication of a comprehensive dashboard, the Climate Commissioner reported that, in tandem with the development of a detailed climate dashboard, the Council had undertaken an annual review of this progress, on its range of climate ambitions, to the Climate and Sustainability Board, which would be available for the Committee’s consideration.  The Director informed the Members that the Corporate Performance Management Framework was being amended and would provide a valuable insight into the Council and the progress made to deliver its climate ambitions.

                                                                                                                                 Noted.