Supporting a net zero city

This principle recognises the role that the University, as a large employer in Leeds, will play in the wider city region. By helping the city find pathways to reduce emissions, we will also help bolster our own net zero plans.

It sets out our intention to continue working with Leeds City Council, in particular through Leeds Climate Commission, to support its ambition to become carbon neutral by 2030. We will also work with Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission to guide ambitious climate action across the region.

Climate commissions

As one of the founding partners of both the Leeds Climate Commission (LCC) and the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission (YHCC), respectively the first and largest climate Commissions in the UK, the University is demonstrating its leadership as an anchor institution in both the city and region.

Leeds Climate Commission (LCC)

The University hosts and in-part funds the LCC Teams. Located within the University School of Earth and Environment, a multi skilled team of 12 people (eight full-time equivalent) provide support to both Climate Commissions and the UK wide Place Based Climate Action Network (PCAN).

Through the work of PCAN, the Climate Commission model has been adopted widely, with more than 20 Commissions forming around the UK (a network known as PCAN+).

Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission (YHCC)

The YHCC has also been supported by donor contributions from:

• Yorkshire Leaders Board (the political leaders of all 15 Local Authorities in Yorkshire and Humber and the Mayors)
• Environment Agency
• Northern Gas Networks
• Northern Power Grid
• Yorkshire Water
• Yorkshire Building Society.

Contributions in-kind have also been made by a wide range of partners including Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England, the Trades Union Congress and Yorkshire Universities.

Funding

The commissions have, to date, received funding from a range of sources: academic research centres, donor contributions and the University of Leeds as part of the Climate Principles Programme.

Climate commissions development timeline

Phase 1: 2017 to 2024

• Launch Leeds Climate Commission (2017)
• Initiate Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission (2020) and launch (2021)
• Run phase 1 of both commissions – proof of concept and early delivery
• Review progress to date, lessons learnt and plan for phase 2 (2023/24)

Phase 2: 2024 to 2027

• Both commissions to move into an established delivery period
• Explore, scope and develop of what self-sustaining model(s) might look like and what the implications of these would be

Phase 3: 2027 to 2030

• Continue to deliver and transition to the preferred self-sustaining model(s)

Contributions and partnerships

In March 2023, the Yorkshire Leaders Board (YLB) confirmed their support for the YHCC to continue to 2030.

This cross party political support is combined with financial support, from both the YLB for the YHCC and the University of Leeds Climate Principles Programme Board for both commissions.

This political and financial support has enabled the team and both commissions to pursue and secure donor contributions from March 2024 onwards.

Alongside delivering ambitious work programmes at a regional scale, the team worked hard to build strong working relationships with colleagues across the Yorkshire universities, and through existing and leading academics.

For example, the YHCC is now a strategic partner of Yorkshire Integrated Catchment Solutions Programme (i-CASP), Yorkshire and Humber Policy Engagement and Research Network (Y-PERN) and the South Yorkshire Sustainability Centre and works closely with colleagues from:

• the University’s Sustainability Research Institute
• Priestley Centre for Climate Futures
• Hull York Medical School
• Energy and Environmental Institute at Hull
• Environmental Change Institute at Oxford
• Decarbon8
• Supergen Energy Networks Hub
• UK Energy Research Centre
• Climate Champion Team
• Nature North
• Fix our Food.

Progress made in 2022/23

• In Spring 2023, the University confirmed its continued commitment to both commissions, allocating £2.35m from April 2024 to April 2030.
• The Yorkshire Leaders Board also confirmed their continued and full support, including an annual financial contribution for YHCC to continue until at least 2030.
• Leeds City Council confirmed its ongoing commitment and support for Leeds Climate Commission to continue into the long term.

These three things combined provide significant stability for sustained, ambitious, collaborative climate action across the city of Leeds and the Yorkshire and Humber Region.

Work delivered with Leeds Climate Commission (LCC)

There is considerable momentum and energy within the LCC.

Following a LCC meeting in January 2023, a thorough assessment and consultation process with over 25 members and key stakeholders took place over the summer of 2023. This clearly demonstrated that the LCC is highly valued and continues to have a critically significant role to play in accelerating, optimising and directing climate action across the city.

We contributed to eight workshops organised by partners (eg the City Sprints) and convened task and finish groups to maximise current opportunities like making the development around Leeds Station more sustainable. The University host team facilitated the LCC’s rejuvenation workshop in November 2023, which was held at Imagine Leeds.

We worked with the LCC to explore the purpose of and the data available to support a city dashboard to track climate action in Leeds. We identified how we can work together by supporting or creating opportunities to learn and share information and a number of innovative solutions that the LCC can lead.

Work delivered with and through Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission (YHCC)

• We delivered a programme of 22 Delivering Impact sessions, representing over 1000 hours of expert input on a range of key action areas identified in the Climate Action Plan.
• A range of speakers attended the sessions including from the Cabinet Office, London School of Economics and Political Science, business, infrastructure providers, the Supply Chain Sustainability School, mayoral and local authorities, emergency services and a wide range of practitioner experts and leading academics.
• The recordings of the sessions and associated papers are being shared for public consultation via the YHCC Common Place Platform. They are being developed into a series of insight papers that will enable the foundation of a strategic system level climate action across the region.
• YHCC is approximately halfway through its consultation process with to date 1121 contributions and 7547 visitors to the digital platform.
• 80 organisations have taken the Climate Action Pledge since its launch in November 2022.
• We have operationalised the Local Partnerships Climate Adaptation Toolkit, creating a programme to support all 15 local authorities to begin or further their climate adaptation journeys. Feedback has been extremely positive:

• There has been direct ‘grass roots’ engagement via town and parish councils with about 140 councillors across the region. Working with the YHCC’s Communities and Engagement Panel we have developed and are delivering a series of Faith in the Environment events. We have also facilitated three online public engagement events.
• YHCC was a lead partner in the inaugural Yorkshire Sustainability Week in July 2023 and supported the Yorkshire Post’s Climate Summit in November 2023.
• YHCC’s collaboration with the Yorkshire and Humber Public Health Network has supported it to develop a Climate and Health Narrative resource for public health colleagues across the country.
• The team has collaborated and provided input into three major stage two UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) research programme bids lead by the universities in the region. One of these has already been successful (the other two are being assessed), bringing £5m of inclusive policy impact work into the region.
• We have developed eight Crosscutting Regional Policy Principles with our Regional Policy Forum and planning colleagues in all local authorities, which have been approved by the Yorkshire Leaders Board.
• We have completed detailed Net Zero Pathways modelling, including a full technical and economic assessment of around 750 measures, which identifies the most cost and carbon effective actions to be taken across the region.
• We have submitted two detailed responses to national government climate related consultations, including one supported by the Place-based Climate Action Network Plus (PCAN+). We have published five policy blogs on a range of topics including a reflection on the brave space that the commissions provide.

Plans for 2024

The stability provided by the funding and political support has enabled both commissions to carry out thorough reviews of progress to date and invest in planning and reshaping to maximise future impact.

Leeds Climate Commission (LCC)

As it moves into phase 2, the structure of LCC is being adjusted to enable it to focus effectively on the following three core functions:

Evaluate progress: carry out an independent evaluation on climate action in the city.

Learn and facilitate: convene stakeholders to share effective climate action initiatives.

Drive and collaborate: utilise the independence and trust of the Commission to create collaboration and manage partnerships to drive ambitions new climate action in the city.

Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission (YHCC)

YHCC is coming to the end of its first three-year phase. It is now reshaping to ensure it can add most value where it is most needed, and to do so in a way that ensures it drives integrated system level change and actions across all four pillars of climate action (Net Zero, Adaptation, Just Transition and Restoring Nature).

We are working in partnership with Yorkshire Universities to continue developing a clear and compelling evidence base, and an understanding of what is happening across the region.

A new steering group will help YHCC to effectively influence both the political conversation in the region and nationally, and to inform the public through others more effectively.

Areas of focus include sharing and promoting best practice, direct outreach, neighbourhood climate action, further education and higher education student engagement and mobilisation.

One of the stand-out successes of the first phase of YHCC is the work we have done to establish a Regional Policy Forum, co-chaired by the Chief Executive Officer of Sheffield City Council and Deputy Leader of Wakefield Council.

The Forum brings together the senior Councillor Portfolio Holders from all 15 local authorities and their lead officers, to explore and develop regional policy action that can be taken to deliver effective climate action across the region.

Focuses of the Forum for 2024:

• Support Local Plan processes to build stakeholder support for ambitious climate policies
• Facilitate regional scale join up on Local Nature Recovery Strategies (and subsequent delivery)
• Build an economic transformation agenda for the region (with Y-PERN)
• Support the next phase of the Local Authority Climate Adaptation Programme

The Main Commission, along with the Chair, Vice Chairs and Commission Business Oversight, has responsibility over four groups:

• Regional Picture and Evidence Group
• Public Affairs Steering Group
• Communities and Engagement Group
• Regional Policy Forums and National Policy Collaborations

Alongside this core structure, YHCC will be running several flagship projects (listed in the following section). Led by Commissioners or Commission Associates, the projects address the key strategic priority action areas identified through phase 1.

• Strategic framework for land use and water management
• Climate action pledge
• Modal shift strategy
• Energy: local area energy planning project
• Adaption roles and responsibilities (including work with Local Resilience Forums)
• Housing retrofit (including work with Leeds Climate Commission)
• Skills: identifying connecting and strengthening existing activities to increase impact
• Accelerating adaptive action programme, with Local Authorities and possible spin-offs
• Health co-benefits (supported by collaboration with the Association of Directors of Public Health)
• Yorkshire Policy Innovation Partnership
• Weather Narratives

Review of successes and challenges

It was a turbulent year for the commissions’ teams in 2023. They had several long-term absences and were significantly impacted by ongoing strike action. The teams appreciated the support and understanding of colleagues in the School of Earth and Environment, from across the University, the city and region.

Ultimately, the concept of a climate commission was an experiment, exploring a way to develop and drive governance of climate action differently. The overwhelming reflection of all involved is that the long-running experiment is working.

At a city level, LCC fills the ‘missing middle’. At a regional scale, YHCC has found, and is starting to fill, a significant void. The commissions are uniquely placed to enable the huge, at times overwhelming, appetite for collaboration on climate action at all levels.

The achievements of the team and commissions during 2023, in the context of an incredibly challenging policy and funding landscape, is truly remarkable and a testament to the determined and bold leadership of all involved.

Feedback from members

Through the reviews carried out with members of both commissions during 2023, we received overwhelming feedback:

• Being able to explore complex issues openly, learning from experts, is something that commission members value highly.
• The sense of community and common endeavour, in an area of work that can easily feel overwhelming, is incredibly valuable to members.
• For many, the spaces provided were the only times stakeholders can share openly how they really feel, and what they really think.

It is critical that the groups supporting commissions have clear work programmes and deliverables so that they can be effective. Clear and shared ownership is key to success.

When there is so much work to be done, it is easy for scopes to creep. The commissions’ team provide a valuable service to the commissions, maintaining clarity on the distinction between the specific work of a commission and its role in identifying the actions that others need to take across the city and region.

Transitioning into phase 2

In phase 2 the commissions will need to focus on developing clear, outcome/impact focussed metrics for all their key areas of work.

As part of transitioning into the phase 2 structures and ways of working, the team will be reviewing roles and appointment processes.

Living Labs and Positive Impact Partnerships

Progress made in 2022/23

The Positive Impact Partners programme has been reviewed, aligning its scope with the YHCC’s 50 proposed actions in its Climate Plan.

Two Sustainability Project Officers have been recruited to support the Positive Impact Partners programme work on the Supporting a Net Zero City principle.

These Project Officers have been collaborating on the development of University-wide processes for student involvement to support the net zero city through the Sustainable Curriculum principle and the Community Engagement Network for Teaching, Research and Civic Engagement (CENTRE).

Sustainability into Schools programme

The Project Officers have also been supporting the development of the Sustainability into Schools programme in collaboration with the Volunteering Team and Educational Engagement.

This programme aims to give university students the opportunity to support primary school teachers with the delivery of sustainable curriculums, aligned to the UK government’s strategy for sustainability and climate change in the education and children’s services systems.

Engagement event

We organised an engagement event for representatives from Leeds’ third sector to discuss university-community collaboration in relation to University of Leeds’ Positive Impact Partners programme and Living Labs initiative.

Twelve representatives attended the event from climate resilience-oriented organisations.

Discussion topics included:

• perspectives on what is a ‘net zero city’
• what are the barriers to collaborating with the University
• what benefits would academic and student collaboration bring their organisations.

A post-event blog sharing some preliminary outcomes was published on the University’s Sustainability Service website.

Two collaborative projects

The university-community partners involved in the Positive Impact Partners programme have successfully received funding for two projects that align to the 50 proposed actions by YHCC.

Project to examine the barriers and opportunities for collaborative land management strategies between Leeds City Council and third sector organisations and pilots a community-driven data gathering process for Nature Recovery Plans.

A collaboration between partners based in the School of Geography, Sustainability Service, Hyde Park Source and LCC.

Project to evaluate Leeds Development Education Centre’s (LeedsDEC) sustainable curriculum materials for secondary school teachers and pupils and pilot the concept of a carbon tracker for school children and their families based on these learning materials.

A collaboration between partners based in the School of Earth and Environment, Sustainability Service and LeedsDEC.