Belfast: a sustainability story
Ciarán Ferrin
Due to the efforts of so many of us throughout our society, Belfast has earned the top position as one of the most sustainable cities on Earth in 2022.
But what does this all mean for us? Is it a big deal or a big dud? And what significance might it have for the present and future?
Latest Success
According to recent news reports, Belfast has been given the A-list status for being one of the world’s leading cities in tackling climate and environmental change, according to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). Additionally, Belfast earned the 8th place spot on the Global Destination Sustainability Movement (GDS) Index 2022, making it the most sustainable place on the island of Ireland.
All the while, our neighbouring cousins over in Glasgow achieved a 6th place position, with both cities hoping to maintain or even improve their positions in the following years.
Ms. Parry, the senior manager for the CDP said to the BBC that, “Cities account for around 70 per cent of global emissions and over half of the world's population". She added that climate action is “a challenge that continues” and getting on this list is one thing, but staying there is another.
Current Efforts
These are positive developments for Belfast, and one of the reasons we got here was Northern Ireland’s first climate legislation that passed royal assent in June 2022. However, progress on big pieces of legislation like this takes time, especially with an inactive government.
Another big contributor to Belfast’s newly found status was the One Million Trees Scheme that has so far planted in the region of 40,000 trees, with many projects yet to come. If you want to get involved, prime tree planting time is between December and February and there will be more information on projects further below!
Belfast went from 47th position to top 10 due to the improvement of Belfast’s tourism and hospitality industry’s credentials. In June 2021, Visit Belfast and Belfast City Council created the world’s largest green tourism city partnership. More than two-thirds of the city’s hotels are now sustainably certified.
The Green Growth Strategy too has been created by the Department of Agriculture in the hopes of making the environment and sustainability a basis for economic growth, a contentious area for opposition voices and pro-environmental academics alike. As Daithí MacKay told the BBC, “we can have all the policies we want, but unless we have those emissions going down radically, they mean nothing.”
Our Pressure Points to Improving
The biggest emitting industries at the moment in Northern Ireland are Agriculture, Energy and Transport sectors. There has been fervent questioning of some of the policies in the climate bill from these sectors, especially the agricultural sector. It is vitally important that we have a just transition that respects our highly productive agriculture sector which employs more people than the UK average and has a massive role to play in reducing our emissions.
These results show the improvement and impact of many implicit, societal factors that influence tourism (as well as many other strategies) and their role in economic, environmental and social sustainability this year in Belfast. It demonstrates that we are on the right track, but need to continue developing our societal systems towards sustainability if we want to maintain or better our ranking.
Getting Involved
If you want to get involved in contributing to these significant milestones, you can get in touch with some of the organisations below to get some CV-brightening, sustainable volunteering activities under your belt!
Ulster Wildlife has a Youth Forum for connecting with like-minded individuals, and they advertise volunteering opportunities often!
The Students’ Unions of Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University both have opportunities and societies for volunteering and sustainability.
The Belfast Hills Partnership is involved with planting trees and events all over Belfast, including the whole western/northern stretches of mountains and hills flanking the city.
Ciarán Ferrin is a Science and Environment reporter for The Scoop. He has an MSc in Leadership for Sustainable Development and is currently working as a support provider at Ulster University.