Rebecca Vassarotti said there was a need to conserve the capital's history, but this did not necessarily mean it had to be preserved in its original condition, which would become more unsuitable in a warming and changing climate.

"It would be a perverse outcome indeed if we preserved older, heritage buildings so that they were adversely affected through very high energy bills, poor occupant comfort, and poor resilience in the face of a changing Canberra climate," Ms Vassarotti told the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.

There needed to be a balance between retaining heritage buildings' character and protected attributes while also adapting to the needs of present and future occupants, she said.

Ms Vassarotti said initiatives to climate-proof heritage buildings could include rule changes so private owners can incorporate solar power into their structures, while also making sustainability upgrades to publicly owned heritage-registered buildings.

"It's early days in relation to these discussions and I look forward to many conversations with my government colleagues around the room, as well as valued community partners to bring this vision into life," she said.

Ms Vassarotti used the ministerial statement to argue Canberra's heritage values needed to be promoted to attract visitors to the city.

"Promoting our local distinctive region to the domestic market, made unique by our heritage, is vital for tourism and hospitality to again be viable," she said.

Ms Vassarotti last month split with her Labor cabinet colleagues on the issue of a national heritage listing for the city of Canberra, which has been under consideration for more than a decade.

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"As this government works on specific precinct projects such as the Acton waterfront, and the planning review more generally, support for the heritage listing of Canberra would send a strong signal to the local community about our commitment to value the bones of the city, and would confirm some of the decisions we have made to date - yet without impacting key city-shaping infrastructure projects such as the light rail," she wrote in an opinion piece for The Canberra Times.

Ms Vassarotti acknowledged the risks of a listing, but argued the broad approach would not add another layer of "cumbersome bureaucracy".

The ACT government in December 2021 to urge the Commonwealth government to consider the risks to the growth and future development of Canberra if the city is placed on the national heritage list a decade after it was nominated, while also suggesting a narrower listing may reduce the impact of new protections.

The call prompted Dr Ed Wensing, one of the original nominators of the city, to call the ACT government "disingenuous" about the impact of the city's listing.

Dr Wensing also called for the recommendations from the Australian Heritage Council to the Environment Minister to be made public.

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