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Resilient Belfast
We are committed to creating a sustainable, nature-positive city, making Belfast a resilient net zero economy for everyone. Our focus is on restoring, protecting, and sustainably managing our urban ecosystems for the benefit of people living in, working in and visiting Belfast.
The Belfast Local Development Plan (LDP) sets the strategic framework for land use, development, and planning decisions in Belfast to 2035. It includes policies specifically designed to address climate change and promote biodiversity.
As a coastal city, Belfast is vulnerable to the impacts of rising sea levels and flooding. We need to make sure that our urban spaces are prepared for the effects of climate change such as:
Our natural environment is one of our most important assets and contributes to our prosperity and wellbeing. It provides our food and protects our communities from flooding and extreme weather. It also supports health, wellbeing and quality of life, providing open spaces for exercise, social engagement. By restoring, protecting and sustainably managing urban ecosystems, Belfast can become a city where nature is abundant and accessible to everyone.
In January 2026, we received funding from EU Horizon under the Pathways to Resilience Programme. We'll use this funding to deliver a climate adaptation plan for Belfast by:
Belfast is one of five European cities testing nature-based solutions to climate issues through the UPSURGE project. We established the UPSURGE demonstrator with Queen's University Belfast in Lower Botanic Gardens in 2021. Our project includes:
Environmental sensors on the site measure temperature, humidity, pressure, ozone, Nitric Dioxide (NO), Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Particle Matter (Dust) and noise levels. We'll use learning from this project to develop the management of our green spaces to help reduce pollution.
We are working with Ulster Wildlife on a project that is part of Nature Towns and Cities. This UK-wide initiative aims to bring more green spaces and nature into urban areas for community wellbeing and biodiversity.
We continue to plant trees in line with the One Million Trees initiative and our general tree-planting strategy.
The project supports innovative community-driven approaches to alleyway management. Through the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors' Challenge 2025-2026, our project focuses on engaging local communities to use these public spaces to create cleaner, greener, more welcoming spaces for n residents.
Belfast is one of three living labs, along with Dublin and Mayo, which is engaging communities, government agencies, and stakeholders as equal partners to plan and adapt for an uncertain future. Th living lab maps current and planned climate resilience projects and is working on the development of an all-island climate action database.
Cities consume 78 per cent of the world’s energy and producing more than 60 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. Belfast is very reliant on imported fossil fuels for energy and on petrol and diesel for most of our transport needs. Moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure a more secure energy future.
The Belfast Net-Zero Carbon Roadmap highlights buildings and transport as the highest emitting sectors. Our ambition is to support, encourage and enable a fair transition to net zero by 2050.
The Belfast Local Area Energy Plan provides a framework to enable the transition to an affordable and decarbonised energy system while maximising socio-economic benefits for the community. The plan demonstrates the collective intent of partners to decarbonise Belfast whilst also generating jobs and prosperity for people who live and work in the city.
The plan identifies a priority project pipeline, including:
We work with city partners through the Belfast Net Zero Delivery group to deliver the Belfast Local Area Energy Plan. We are developing a portfolio of net zero projects to achieve the city’s emission reduction targets in a way that maximises the social opportunities of the transition and reduce the risks to benefit everyone.
We developed this framework through the UP2030 project which aims to create a just transition to net zero. The framework focuses on three themes:
It provides a replicable approach for local authorities, residents, and stakeholders to embed climate goals into daily urban life, enabling communities to become central actors in the climate transition.
The Belfast Food Partnership is a collaborative initiative aimed at creating a fair, resilient, and sustainable food system in Belfast. Initiated in 2023, it aims to create a shared vision for sustainable food in the city and consists of 23 partner organisations that work together to promote sustainable food practices in Belfast.
Belfast has achieved a bronze award from the Sustainable Food Places network, recognising Belfast’s progress in creating a more sustainable, healthy, and equitable food system through collaborative action from businesses, community groups, and government.
The partnership has developed the Belfast Way, a draft strategy. Supported by the Food Ethics Council, the partnership includes:
The Climate Action Plan (CAP) is our first formal climate plan, designed to close the gap between our current climate action and our ambition to achieve net-zero emissions. The plan includes measures to increase the resilience of our assets and services to withstand and adapt to changing climate conditions and recover positively from shocks and stresses.
We review the plan annually. Departments highlight priority actions for inclusion in our annual delivery plan.
The CAP is informed by a Climate Risk Assessment and a Greenhouse Gas Inventory, identifying local sources of emissions and vulnerabilities. The Climate and City Resilience Committee provides governance, and a climate data platform tracks progress, ensuring transparency and accountability.
We collect data to inform decision-making and planning. We also benchmark through these disclosure processes:
We are working with partners to reduce Belfast's net carbon emissions by 80 per cent compared to 2005 levels as quickly as possible. In 2022, we adopted these city targets:
We work in collaboration with others to tackle climate change effectively.
Our Planet Board is part of our Community Planning Partnership, established in 2018 to enhance collaboration and help meet the shared commitments and targets outlined in the Belfast Agenda. The board supports the delivery of the projects, outcomes, actions and targets set out in its three action plans:
The board’s Strategic Oversight Group oversees delivery across the programme of work, considering and addressing issues or challenges which emerge.
These sub-groups support delivery:
To develop ideas for tackling climate change and progress climate action, we set up a Resilience and Sustainability Board through our Community planning process. This board allows people from key public and community organisations in Belfast to share experience and knowledge on environmental sustainability.
This committee meets monthly with the Climate Commissioner to:
To read list of Climate and City Resilience Committee members, go to Your council (link opens in new window).
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