Talks to be held on £1m investment to tackle climate emergency in Calderdale

The borough is hit by flooding, the council has declared a climate emergency and its current budget includes £1 million for a “carbon neutral fund” to help combat the impact that climate change is having on the borough.

Local spending can support important initiatives such as energy efficiency measures and projects to accelerate the pace of council and community environmental projects and it is recommended that Cabinet agree to split the funding equally between spending on in-house council projects and on external community projects.

Internal funding would support projects such as the continued roll out of electric/hybrid vehicles to replace petrol and diesel models in the council fleet and the installation or retrofitting of energy efficiency measures in council facilities.

It is also recommended that funding for community schemes would be distributed in partnership with the Community Foundation for Calderdale, which would also allow options around loan agreements to be explored and for the potential to build a permanent endowed Climate Change fund to maximise its longevity and reach.

Calderdale Council’s Cabinet member for Climate Change and Resilience, Coun Scott Patient (Lab, Luddenden Foot) said the authority recognised the importance of tackling climate change and that was why it was committing £1 million to help create a carbon neutral fund.

“We want this fund to not only support the implementation of physical carbon reduction measures, but also be a starting point for communities to develop their own schemes to drive change for current and future generations.

“Although this fund will allow important schemes to progress, we also require additional national investment to enable local authorities to continue this urgent and vital work,” he said.

Cabinet meets from 6pm on February 8 in virtual form, live streamed on the council’s YouTube channel.