York and North Yorkshire’s Routemap to Carbon Negative sets out the region’s ambitious plans to be net zero carbon by 2034 and carbon negative by 2040.
Read York & North Yorkshire’s Routemap to Carbon Negative:
The Routemap is a co-owned plan. Every local authority, business, organisation, charity and community has a role to play. In July 2022, the Routemap was adopted by the LEP Board, and a parallel process of endorsement or adoption amongst local authorities is now underway.
Background
As storms, floods and wildfires intensify across the world, there is growing urgency for collective action to tackle climate change. In York and North Yorkshire, we have a critical contribution to make to national and global efforts; we have the potential to go beyond net zero, and become England’s first carbon negative region. With two national parks, three Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) and over 70% of our geography being used for agriculture, we are uniquely positioned to use our natural assets to capture and store carbon. As a leader in decarbonisation and world class innovation assets, we can harness the economic opportunities of the transition, creating jobs and attracting investment to the region. This Routemap provides an ambitious pathway for local authorities, businesses, charities, academia and communities to come together to deliver carbon reduction at the necessary pace and scale to reach net zero by 2034, and net negative by 2040.
The specific objectives of the Routemap are:
- To provide strategic direction and a coordinated approach to decarbonisation;
- To catalyse collaborative action at pace and scale;
- To build confidence that reaching net zero and beyond to carbon negative is feasible;
- To harness the economic opportunities of net zero, leveraging public and private sector investment; and
- To position York and North Yorkshire at the forefront of national climate action and provide a platform to influence Government policy and funding.
Routemap Development Process to Date
A number of studies have informed the development of the Routemap. This includes research undertaken by the Tyndall Centre to establish a carbon budget for the region that ensures we make our ‘fair’ contribution towards the Paris Climate Change Agreement. Following this, York and North Yorkshire LEP commissioned a study to understand potential pathways to get to net zero across key sectors – transport, buildings, industry, power, and land use and agriculture (York and North Yorkshire’s Carbon Abatement Pathways (CAP) study).
To date, over 200 stakeholders have been engaged in the CAP study and Routemap development process, including: