Routemap to Carbon Negative Consultation

We have completed our consultation on the initial draft of York & North Yorkshire’s Routemap to Carbon Negative. The consultation gathered feedback on the draft Routemap, with a specific focus on the “strategic priorities” and “actions plans”.

The initial draft of York and North Yorkshire’s Routemap to Carbon Negative went out to consultation between the 28th February and 17th March. The consultation aimed to gather feedback on the draft Routemap, with a specific focus on the “strategic priorities” and “actions plans”.

The suite of reports below provides a summary of key themes from the consultation feedback focused on the different sections within the Routemap. Each report details headline actions to address the feedback received.

As part of the process of addressing the feedback received from the consultation, we are hosting a series of workshop sessions to unpack critical issues and areas requiring further development:

Marine & Coastal Workshop Session – 1.30 – 3.00pm on 1st June

From the consultation feedback, there was consensus that the marine and coastal section was relatively under-developed. This session will be focused on addressing this issue – further developing the strategic priorities and expanding the interventions.

Net Zero Tourism Workshop Session – 9-10.30am on 7th June 

A number of stakeholders highlighted the missed opportunity to create a sustainable, net zero tourism sector. So this session will be focused on discussing the challenges and opportunities around this, and the required actions to deliver the ambition.

Community Climate Action Workshop Session – 2.00-3.30pm on 9th June

From the consultation feedback it was highlighted the need for the Routemap to empower communities to take climate action and create a two-way dialogue between communities and the regional-level, rather than a top-down approach.  So this session will be focused on discussing how we can achieve this through the Routemap, and the required strategic actions and priorities.

Natural Capital Workshop Session – 11.00-12.30 on 10th June

This session will be focused on addressing the land use related feedback, including the need to integrate biodiversity improvements into plans and the omission of reduction in land used for dairy and meat farming.

Next Steps? Using the outputs from these workshop sessions and additional stakeholder engagement, the Routemap document will be revised, with a finalised draft to be approved by the LEP Board in July. This will sit alongside a process of approval by local authorities. York & North Yorkshire’s Routemap to Carbon Negative will then be formally launched in October 2022. 

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:

Next Steps

This is an initial draft of the Routemap, and as such there are gaps within the sector action plans. We have indicated where these are – whether we are awaiting confirmation from organisations to lead or be a partner for a specific action, or whether we are at an earlier stage where lead and partner organisations need to be confirmed. As part of the consultation, we welcome feedback on whether your organisation would like to be involved in such actions, and we’ll also be holding targeted sessions with stakeholders to further develop interventions where such gaps persist.

The Routemap is a policy document, and we recognise the need to be able to communicate relevant sections and key messages in a compelling way to different audiences. As such, we will be developing “1 pager” infographic assets for different types of organisations – these will clearly communicate the key benefits of being part of York and North Yorkshire’s journey to carbon negative, and practical actions organisations can take.