'Urgent action' needed to meet Yorkshire's climate target
We're taking a special look at how Yorkshire's responding to the crisis as Cop27 gets underway
Last updated 17th Apr 2023
Climate bosses in Yorkshire are warning every home and business in the region will be put at risk if we don't significantly step up our response to the crisis.
The region’s target is to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2038, and to show significant progress by 2030.
But the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission says urgent action is needed to meet that.
Their 50-point Climate Action Plan sets out how to make it happen.
“We need to make changes across the region to enable us to respond to climate change in a joined-up way,” says co-director Andy Gouldson.
“That includes things like local authorities seeing this as a real issue and really committing to doing something about it. Then there’s a package of measures to do with reducing our carbon footprint as a region. And then there’s another package of measures around climate resilience and what we do about the impacts of climate change.”
As a region, Yorkshire currently produces more emissions than whole countries like Croatia and Cyprus. The Climate Commission warns we're already being deeply affected by climate change, and how we respond will play a vital role in defining the future prosperity of the region.
Andy says there are lots of things happening already which are having an impact on our carbon footprint, with more ‘big-ticket items’ on the way. These include multibillion pound carbon capture plans at Drax power station, and huge investment in offshore wind off the coast of Yorkshire.
“Yorkshire’s got a massive opportunity. We can carry on as we are, in which case we’ll become more vulnerable and the impacts of all the climate change and the floods and the droughts and the moorland fires will just get more intense, and we won’t adapt to this future net zero economy.
“Or we can plan ahead and we can make sure we can benefit from all of these things, and it will be a better place to live and work.”
The group have written to the new Prime Minister calling for a series of national policy changes which they say would make it quicker and easier to make changes locally.