By Leah Conway –
Recently, environmental campaigners ‘Friends of the Earth’ produced a ‘Near Me’ section of their website which allows people to check how their local area is doing environmentally.
Friends of the Earth is the UK’s largest grassroots environmental campaigning organisation. Their website shows if there are any local groups in the area, results from recent elections, and presents an analysis on whether where you live is on track to reach both local government and Friends of the Earth’s targets.
So, is Kirklees on track for its climate targets? Let’s find out.
Groups on the ground
According to Friends of the earth’s database, there are two main environmental groups in Kirklees.
- Huddersfield Friends of the Earth
- Calderdale Green New Deal Climate Action
Both groups look for ways to make the borough greener, with the aim of creating a safer climate and more flourishing nature.
They also campaign for change locally, nationally and globally. Everyone is welcomed to join the community and get involved.
Do the Kirklees polls commit to climate action?
Another big aspect that Friends of the Earth evaluates is whether the people voted for, such as MPs and Mayors, commit to tackling climate issues such as green space, clean air, renewable energy.
Friends of the Earth evaluated the recent West Yorkshire election earlier this year and whether the elected Mayor and unsuccessful candidates took the Climate Action pledge.
The Climate Action Pledge includes the pledge to:
- Create an ambitious Climate Action Plan.
- Swiftly deliver the actions necessary to tackle climate and nature emergencies.
- Build a fairer, greener society for us all.
Recently elected West Yorkshire Mayor, Tracy Brabin, has signed the pledge. So did Bob Buxton of the Yorkshire Party, Andrew Cooper of the Green party and Stewart Golton of the Liberal Democrats.
However, Waj Ali (Reform UK), Thérèse Hirst (English Democrats) and Matt Robinson (Conservative and Unionist Party) have not pledged to the climate action points.
Is Kirklees on track to reach its targets?
Friends of the earth have calculated the borough’s data according to the latest scientific data set for local authority areas to reach by 2030.
Bear in mind that the organisation has deemed official local authority targets unambitious, so their analysis differs from the official targets of local authorities.
Friends of the Earth concluded that Kirklees needs to do more to tackle the climate.
Renewable energy
They pinpoint renewable energy in particular with only 34,456 Megawatt-hours of renewable energy being generated out of a target of 698,174.
Transport
Other goals they measure include transport. Friends of the Earth target is that 60% of commuter journeys should be made by public transport, cycling and walking, but the current percentage sits at 23%.
Households
Similarly, ensuring homes are well-insulated sits at 33% of a target of 100% – to Friends of the Earth’s expectations.
Lastly, its target for household waste being reused, recycled or composted is a target of 100%. To their calculations, Kirklees is currently 24% of the way there.
While it seems like these goals may be unreasonable, the point is trying to push as close as we can to them.
It is also suggested that improving the climate won’t just improve the planet but would also create an estimate of 5034 ‘green jobs’ in Kirklees by 2030, which is according to the Local Government Association.
Carbon Neutral vision for Kirklees
Kirklees Council’s own targets include the borough being completely carbon neutral by 2038. Kirklees Council has recently introduced electric vehicles and low and ultra-low emission car parks.
The climate emergency has become a bigger action point for local authorities but for some environmental organisations like Friends of the Earth, targets aren’t ambitious enough,
As a whole, the UK is already off track to achieve its target of being net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. So while individuals, organisations and local authorities are trying to take climate action, it seems only a bigger overhaul of our approach towards the climate crisis would make these future goals more obtainable.