New plans to tackle climate change

The council and the Without Walls Environment Partnership have committed to tackling climate change in York. The city is on a mission to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 40 per cent by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050.

To help residents and businesses play a vital role in tackling climate change, the council and the Without Walls Partnership, have produced a consultation draft Climate Change Framework and Climate Change Action Plan for York.

The Climate Change Framework

The Climate Change Framework is the overarching document that will enable York to accelerate actions to reduce carbon emissions across the city. It demonstrates the actions already on-going and highlights the key areas the city needs to begin to drive forward for coordinated action to tackle climate change.

The framework identifies ten key areas for focus, creating:

• Sustainable homes
• Sustainable buildings
• Sustainable energy
• Sustainable waste management
• Sustainable transport
• Sustainable low carbon economy
• Low carbon lifestyle
• Sustainable planning and land use.
• Sustainable WoW – illustrating the climate change work they are doing as a partnership
• Prepared York – how we start to prepare and adapt our infrastrucutre, services, homes and businesses for a changing climate.

The Climate Change Action Plan

The Climate Change Action Plan for York will deliver coordinated actions across the city to meet the Climate Change Framework’s targets and ambitions.

The Climate Change Action Plan for York is a combination of two specific action plans. The plans are broken into mitigation – actions that will reduce emissions from across York – and adaptation – actions that will help York to better prepare and adapt to the predicted effects of a future changing climate.

The framework and action plans will help everyone in York to live and work in a more sustainable, low-carbon city where people:

• live and work in energy-efficient buildings with smaller fuel bills
• drive less and walk and cycle more
• use renewable sources of energy to heat buildings or power cars and buses
• create less waste, recycle and compost more.

Have your say

Between 29 June 2010 and 1 September 2010 the council and the Without Walls Environment Partnership have been asking you what you think of these plans and how you think we should tackle climate change in York.

This consultation has now closed and work is underway revising the plans to reflect your views.

Once this work is complete the framework and action plan will be adopted and implemented from autumn 2010.