Author: City of Belfast
Category: City Net Zero Policy
Published/Created by: City of Belfast
The roadmap identifies transport, buildings and industry as key sectors to decarbonise. Work is now underway with city partners to develop a Carbon Action Plan. It is designed to influence the city’s net-zero plans and to inform how the city can work towards an ambitious target. The roadmap presents some options for reducing CO2 emissions. Since 2000 the decline in Belfast’s carbon emissions was 42%. This needs to be increased to 66% by 2025, 80% by 2030, and 100% by 2050. To meet these carbon reduction targets, Belfast will need to adopt low carbon options that close the gap between its projected emissions in future and net-zero emissions. This can be partially realised through cost-effective options that would more than pay for themselves through the energy cost reductions they would generate whilst generating wide social and environmental benefits in the area. More specifically, the analysis shows that Belfast could close the gap between its projected emissions in 2050 and net-zero emissions by 35% purely through the adoption of cost-effective options in houses, public and commercial buildings, transport and industry. The most carbon-effective options for the city to deliver these carbon cuts include improved deep retrofitting of heating, lighting and insulation in houses, cooling and insulation in offices, shops and restaurants, and a range of measures across the transport sector including modal shift to non-motorised transport and the wider up-take of electric vehicles.