Progress on climate change

You can sign up to our climate newsletter to keep up to date with our progress and to see how local communities, residents and businesses are taking action across North Yorkshire. 

Tackling carbon emissions

Almost everything the council does produces carbon emissions. This includes lighting streets, heating leisure centres, collecting waste, supporting vulnerable residents and helping local businesses and jobs to grow.

We are committed to reducing these emissions. We are doing this by using less energy, delivering services more efficiently, improving our local areas and protecting nature.

Declaring a climate emergency

On 5 July 2022, North Yorkshire County Council declared a climate emergency. This declaration carried forward to the new North Yorkshire Council in April 2023.

The declaration recognises the seriousness of climate change and the need for urgent and ambitious action.

You can read more about this in the minutes of the meeting where the climate emergency was declared. 

Our vision and ambition

We want North Yorkshire to remain a great place to live, work and visit, while adapting to a changing world.

Our ambitions are to:

• support thriving places and empowered communities
• develop more sustainable and better connected places
• ensure people are safe, healthy and living well
• maximise the potential of North Yorkshire’s people and communities

Acting on climate change is central to achieving these ambitions. Cutting emissions is part of all our work. 

Cutting emissions includes: 

• creating warm and affordable homes
• supporting renewable community energy
• protecting green spaces
• improving public and active travel
• building community resilience 

Taking action on climate change also helps reduce the cost of delivering services and supports new jobs and investment in North Yorkshire.

We support the UK government’s target to reach net zero emissions by 2050, and the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority’s ambition to become the UK’s first carbon negative region by 2040.

For our own operations, we are working to reach net zero operational emissions by 2030, or as close to that date as possible.

Our carbon emissions 

We measure the council’s carbon emissions using three recognised categories, known as scopes.

Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from sources we own or control. This includes gas boilers in council buildings and fuel used by council vehicles.

Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from the electricity we buy and use.

Scope 3 emissions are other indirect emissions from activities we influence but do not directly control. This includes business travel in staff members’ own vehicles and emissions linked to fuel and electricity supply.

Local Government Reorganisation brought together services and data from eight former councils. This has made emissions reporting more complex. Recent increases in reported emissions largely reflect improved data collection, with more buildings, vehicles and streetlights now included.

As data quality continues to improve, our confidence in the figures will increase year on year.

Scope 1 carbon emissions in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO²e)

Emission source	Emissions April 2023 to March 2024	Emissions April 2024 to March 2025
Building gas and oil usage	7,962	7,358
Operational and pool car fleet	6,714	7,463
Total	14,676	14,820

Scope 2 carbon emissions in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO²e)

Emission source	Emissions April 2023 to March 2024	Emissions April 2024 to March 2025
Building electricity (including electric vehicle charging)	4,366	4,752
Streetlighting	2,206	2,859
Total	6,572	7,611

Scope 3 carbon emissions in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO²e)

Emission source	Emissions April 2023 to March 2024	Emissions April 2024 to March 2025
Business travel	2,090	2,304
Transmission and distribution	569	673
Well-to-tank	5,100	5,343
Total	29,006	30,751

Working across the council

We are already taking practical steps to reduce emissions and make North Yorkshire cleaner and greener.

We are making sure that climate change is considered in every area of the council, including: 

• each directorate having a climate action plan setting out priority actions
• climate change impact assessments being completed for key decisions
• climate change awareness introduced into staff induction
• further training being made available to employees and councillors

Energy and properties

We are reducing energy use across council buildings and streetlighting to cut emissions and reduce costs by:

• setting out a clear approach through our Corporate Property Strategy to identify the least energy-efficient buildings so that improvement work can be prioritised
• installing low-carbon technologies across many council properties to reduce reliance on fossil fuels
• delivering new low-carbon buildings, such as the accommodation at Bewerley Park Outdoor Education Centre, which uses solar panels and an air source heat pump to provide warm and comfortable spaces while reducing emissions
• upgrading older streetlights to energy-efficient LED lighting to reduce electricity use
• installing solar-powered lighting in some locations so streetlights can generate their own energy
• securing government funding to retrofit social and private homes, helping residents improve energy efficiency and lower energy bills

Transport and travel

We are reducing emissions from travel and transport to improve air quality and support cleaner journeys by:

• increasing the number of electric vehicles in the council fleet, including electric pool cars for staff business travel
• completing a fleet decarbonisation study to understand where further emissions reductions are practical and achievable
• operating a car share scheme to help staff travel more sustainably
• providing active travel routes and public transport for communities and businesses
• rolling out electric vehicle charging points across North Yorkshire 

Schools

School emissions are not included in council reporting, but schools play a key role in tackling climate change.

We support schools to develop climate action plans and provide guidance on sustainability and education. Further resources are available through North Yorkshire and York Healthy Schools.

If you are an educational establishment and would like support developing or implementing your climate action plan, please email us.

The Local Plan

The North Yorkshire Local Plan will guide future development up to 2045. It considers land use, housing, transport, renewable energy and green spaces.

Find out more about the North Yorkshire Local Plan.

Working in partnership

We work with a range of groups on climate change to help us to achieve change. We produced Local Area Energy Plans (LAEPs) for North Yorkshire together with the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority. These LAEPs identify the changes needed to the local energy systems across North Yorkshire. 

Read more about LAEPs across North Yorkshire.

In partnership with the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, we delivered £3.5 million of decarbonisation grants and support to community groups, businesses, farms, and residential care homes from 2024 to 2025. This was done through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) and the Devolution Deal Net Zero Fund. 

Learn more about the UK SPF programme in North Yorkshire.

We are working with the City of York council and the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority to look at opportunities for a Strategic Energy Partnership in the region that could unlock private investment to drive public sector decarbonisation. This work is supported by £2 million of funding from the UK government’s Local Net Zero Acceleration Programme.

Read more about the York and North Yorkshire Strategic Energy Partnership.

Climate adaptation

We are working with York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, City of York Council and the local National Landscapes to understand how climate change is affecting our area. This will help us to understand and prioritise the biggest risks and take action to keep North Yorkshire safe and prepared for the future.

Supporting nature to thrive

We have prepared the North Yorkshire and York Local Nature Recovery Strategy, which sets priorities to restore, create and connect habitats across the region. 

Find out more about the Local Nature Recovery Strategy. 

We also manage Nidderdale National Landscape and the Howardian Hills National Landscape. We work to protect these areas, support sustainable farming and tourism, and safeguard wildlife so they can thrive for future generations. 

What we are doing next

We will continue to deliver our Climate Change Strategy and drive progress across the council and county.
This includes:

• reducing emissions from buildings, vehicles and energy use
• supporting renewable energy projects
• improving home energy efficiency and heating
• preparing services and communities for the impacts of climate change
• encouraging staff to reduce emissions in everyday working practices

Terminology

Climate change discussions can include technical terms. Some common ones are explained below.

Greenhouse gases are gases in the atmosphere that trap heat. Human activities such as burning oil and natural gas increase their levels.

Carbon dioxide is the greenhouse gas with the largest overall impact on global warming from human activities.

Carbon dioxide equivalent is a way of comparing different greenhouse gases using a single measure.

Carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas emissions linked to a person, organisation or activity.

Net zero emissions means balancing the greenhouse gases released with those removed or stored, by cutting emissions as much as possible and offsetting only what remains.