New North Yorkshire Climate Change Strategy Approved

North Yorkshire Council has adopted a new climate change strategy but not everyone is happy.

While a local Friends of the Earth group have called the plan "an important step forwards" other climate campaigners have called the policy "weak" and have criticized the dropping of a 2030 net zero target with a more limited "ambition to be net zero by 2030"

The authority’s climate change boss Councillor Greg White says there are limits to what the council can achieve on it's own.

The strategy, which was adopted at a meeting of the council’s executive yesterday features a three-pronged approach in which it hoped cutting greenhouse gas emissions, preparing for climate change and supporting nature across England’s largest county will help focus people’s minds on environmental issues.

However, Tim Larner, vice chair of Zero Carbon Harrogate, urged the council to rethink dropping the net zero by 2030 target which the council had set out in February and replacing it with a more limited ambition to “seek to become operationally net zero by 2030”.

He said his group felt the strategy was “weak” and said the final version of the strategy had “stepped back from rather than stepping up to an ever-increasing challenge”.

Mr Larner told the County Hall meeting while the partnership approach was to be commended, the strategy needed to be more far-reaching.

He said:

“Support and encouragement alone will not change the behaviour of suppliers. Suppliers should be required by goods and services specifications to deliver lower carbon solutions.”

Nevertheless, another member of the coalition of groups, Thirsk Friends of the Earth, said the adoption of the climate strategy was “an important step forward” and gave the council “a clear mandate to be radical, to lead, inspire and galvanise its partners and the people of North Yorkshire”.

However, a spokesman for the Thirsk-based group added there were areas where “a more ambitious and robust approach” was needed, such as using the council’s planning powers to ensure all developments are as close to net zero emissions as possible.

The authority’s climate change boss Councillor Greg White said more than 40 environmental groups had helped shape the strategy, alongside 1.700 responses to its consultation over the document.

He said: “Whilst this strategy might not go as far as Zero Carbon Harrogate would like, we feel it is fully reflective of the evidence, both from the available data and from our communities about what we need to do.”

The meeting heard Coun White describe the authority’s stance as “pro-active” and outline numerous initiatives in which the council would attempt to inspire or incentivise businesses to launch carbon cutting actions.

But he's warned the council can not deliver the changes on it's own.

The seven year climate strategy was amended to include actions that are not core council activities, including a focus on what the council can do to support cut agricultural emissions.

The strategy also includes supporting community action, particularly community energy development, which it is felt has “huge potential for both climate change and cost of living responses”.

Another key addition to the strategy has been improving the response of the council “to the barrier of electrical grid capacity”, following concerns such as the ability to develop solar farms and a comprehensive electric vehicle charging network across the vast, rural area.

Councillor Greg White, the council’s executive member for climate change, said by working with communities and businesses, the authority could help fulfil North Yorkshire and York Local Enterprise Partnership’s ambition to be the first carbon negative region by 2040.

He said:

“We can lead, enable and influence activities through the services which we deliver, the responses we make to Government and the regulatory and strategic functions we carry out and this will continue in the new council.”

Nevertheless, Coun White also warned it would be necessary to get up front capital investment for larger scale projects and seize opportunities for external funding if the strategy would be achieved as the council’s budgets were under severe pressure in response to national and global financial and supply chain issues..

He said:

“Can we afford to tackle climate change?  We have significant and demanding statutory responsibilities as a local authority to provide essential and critical services to support communities, vulnerable people and businesses.”

The authority’s Liberal Democrat group leader Councillor Bryn Griffiths welcomed the strategy, saying it had “been a long time in coming”, before adding it was “a positive starting point on the journey to a sustainable future”.

However, he said the group had concerns about the strategy being fully realised and said Coun White’s statement had been “very much about managing expectations rather than driving the ambition”.

Coun Griffiths said:

“To deliver this strategy it will need leadership, collaboration and transformational changes in how the authority will break away from its traditional direction.

“Will it happen? Will the leadership grasp the urgency? Will they back the aspirations of the officers and, more importantly, the community, with resources and policies to match? Only time will tell.

“One promise we can make is that we will be challenging them all the way, to ensure that an effective strategy is agreed and delivered as a matter of urgency.”