Responding to a climate emergency

Kirklees Council has a new ambitious plan to make the borough completely carbon neutral by 2038.

Cabinet members backed the Kirklees Climate Emergency action plan on 12 November 2019 and called for even more investment to increase the number of electric vehicles in the borough.

The plan will now include proposals to significantly boost the number of electric vehicles in the council’s fleet and for more public charging points to be installed across the borough to support residents and visitors to move towards electric vehicles.

To support this further, parking will also be free for hybrid and electric vehicles across Kirklees in a bid to encourage more people to drive them.

This comes after the council passed a motion declaring a district-wide climate emergency in January 2019 and established the Climate Emergency Working Party (CEWP) to identify actions to reduce emissions in Kirklees.

On 12 November the council’s cabinet was presented with the CEWP’s action plan which sets out an ambition for Kirklees to become a carbon-neutral district by at least 2038 – the deadline set by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

This will mean environmental impact will be considered as part of any decision made by the authority. Some other key actions to help Kirklees reach this target include; boosting local woodland through the White Rose Forest Partnership, establishing a Kirklees Climate Commission and Kirklees Green Charter and to hold a Kirklees Youth Summit on climate change.

The council will also continue its measures to significantly improve recycling rates in advance of a full review of the waste collection and disposal service. This all forms phase one of the council’s Climate Emergency Action Plan, phase two will set out how Kirklees will become carbon neutral by 2038 and will be released next year.

Climate change: KEY ACTIONS

Kirklees could soon have one of the best electric vehicle charging networks in the country. A £1m council investment is set to put Kirklees at the forefront of electric vehicle infrastructure provision. It will see five new rapid charge points and 80-100 new fast charge points installed in public car parks and on-street to support residents and visitors to move towards electric vehicles. This will add to Kirklees’ current network which has three rapid chargers and 22 slow to fast chargers in the public domain, with a further 17 rapid chargers being installed in public locations by October 2021.

Council electric vehicles

Kirklees Council plans to invest a further £1m to add 50 new electric vehicles to its fleet. This would add to the five small electric vans, 20 electric and 30 hybrid pool cars the council currently has in its fleet and the 24 small electric vans which are already in the process of being procured.

A carbon budget

Using independent analysis to set a ‘carbon-budget’ for Kirklees to achieve our net-zero ambition. We will also publicly disclose our carbon emissions.

Environmental impact considered

Before any Kirklees Council decision is made, the environmental impact will be assessed and considered.

Planting and saving trees

Kirklees Council will increase trees and woodland in both rural and urban parts of the district. This will be done by replacing trees projected to be lost through disease and by taking every opportunity to plant new ones across Kirklees and as part of the White Rose Forest initiative.

Recycle more

Kirklees Council will continue its measures to significantly improve

recycling rates and will carry out a full review of its waste collection and disposal service to support this.

Create a Kirklees Climate Commission and Kirklees Green Charter

Kirklees Council is forming a Climate Commission, made up of partners and organisations across the district working together to drive change. A Kirklees Green Charter is also being developed which local people and organisations will be encouraged to sign up to and make environmental pledges.

Giving young people a voice

In 2020 Kirklees Council is inviting every young person and child across the whole borough to help shape the positive work being done to tackle climate change locally. A Climate Change Youth Summit will be held in the spring of 2020 to make sure the passionate voices of young people are heard