Climate change package set to curb harmful emissions in North Yorkshire
Councillors are expected to approve a strategy next week
North Yorkshire Council is set to approve a climate change package, described as a "defining moment" by senior councillors.
The package will set out how the county will reduce harmful carbon emissions, which are responsible for climate change.
It also outlines how the council will prepare for changes in climate.
Initiatives which will need to be introduced include producing more renewable energy, reducing the use of fossil fuels, improving insulation in homes, encouraging the use of low-emission vehicles and promoting more active travel such as cycling and walking.
North Yorkshire Council’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, said: “This new strategy is among the most important documents that I have witnessed in more than 20 years that I have been a councillor, and it represents a defining moment in our fight against climate change here in North Yorkshire."
Figures show that North Yorkshire produced 5,829 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (kt co2e) in 2020, with agriculture equating to a third of the total, transport responsible for 28 per cent and 19 per cent coming from homes.
The eight-week public engagement revealed that 73 per cent of responses were from people who said that they “worry a lot or a fair amount” about climate change.
Most people said that they had taken actions at home to tackle climate change such as recycling and reducing home energy consumption.
Other proposed measures to ensure that North Yorkshire Council achieves an ambition of reaching carbon net zero by 2030 include reducing energy demand and an increasing focus on low-carbon energy such as solar power as an alternative to fossil fuels.
In January, members of the executive endorsed an ambitious bid for York and North Yorkshire to become the first carbon negative region in the country, meaning more carbon dioxide emissions would be removed from the atmosphere than are emitted.