Climate Change - share your opinion with the council

East Riding of Yorkshire Council is inviting residents to provide their views to the Council on climate change in the East Riding through an interactive online questionnaire. This can be accessed by using the link: https://climatechangeeryc.commonplace.is/

Residents will be able to use an interactive map of East Riding to highlight locations where there are opportunities for further positive climate action and express any opinions about climate change more generally through a series of questions. This information will help shape the Climate Change Strategy for the East Riding.

The survey will remain live online until Sunday 27 February 2022.

The Council is committed to achieving net zero through reducing its own carbon emissions and by working with communities and organisations to influence behaviours and ambitions on climate change.

Following the declaration of a climate emergency in February of this year, the Council is currently in the process of developing a Climate Change Strategy for the East Riding which will explore opportunities for reducing carbon emissions and examine how we can adapt to climatic changes across the wider East Riding. There are opportunities for residents and businesses to be involved in the development of this strategy by taking part in the interactive survey.

The evolving Climate Change Strategy will build on the Council's successes in environmental management and emission reduction, which have been driven by the authority's Environmental Policy. This policy ensures that environmental issues are considered in our everyday activities and helps the Council improve its environmental performance, including actions that address climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Carbon Reduction Initiatives

Over the previous decade the Council has undertaken an array of carbon reduction initiatives, significantly reducing the authority's carbon footprint and reducing emissions across the East Riding. These initiatives have included:

• The installation of photovoltaic panels (PVs) on buildings including leisure centres, offices and social housing across the East Riding.
• Lighting improvement schemes, including the replacement of inefficient lighting with LED lights for our street lighting and across Council sites.
• The installation of electrical vehicle infrastructure across the East Riding so by the end of 2021 the Council will have installed 31 charging points.
• The rollout of seven new zero-emission electric vans and one electric minibus for the Council to use in delivering its services.
• The installation of a solar farm at the Council's South Cliff Holiday Park, in Bridlington.
• Securing funding towards installing low carbon heating and making improvements to energy efficiency for a limited number of housing. So far the Council has helped install over 450 air source heat pumps across social housing in the East Riding.
• With the support of residents in the East Riding, we have been able to recycle, reuse or compost 64.8% of all household waste in 2018/19, thereby diverting this waste away from landfill. Residents have now helped the Council become the country's number one recycler for three years in a row!

Community Involvement

As an authority we value engaging and listening to residents and organisations on the topic of sustainability, including climate change, as we understand that it is only by working together that we can achieve our climate and ecological ambitions and targets. For instance, we have previously:

• Presented and held discussions with residents on sustainability, at local events in the East Riding, as part of the national Great Big Green Week, in September this year.
• Led a seminar at the recent Hull and East Yorkshire Road to Net Zero event, affiliated with COP26, on the important role of nature in combatting climate change.
• Helped fund and support 18 local projects, last year, that were designed to improve local communities for people and wildlife, by linking with the Government's Year of Green Action. These projects have helped plant trees, create new wildlife areas and engaged more schoolchildren and young adults in environmental activities.

Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission

East Riding of Yorkshire Council have also been involved in the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission, set up earlier this year as an advisory body, made up of organisations and groups in the region, to support ambitious climate action across the Yorkshire and the Humber.

This month the Commission launched the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Action Plan. This plan is intended to be a document that will inform and guide climate actions across the region in the years to come. Fifty recommended actions are included in this document for the region to take forward collectively to help achieve our climate ambitions. A link to the action plan can be found below:

https://yorksandhumberclimate.org.uk/climate-action-plan 

Councillor Chris Matthews, portfolio holder for environment and climate change at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: "Climate change is a complex issue, but by working together we can tackle the climate crisis head on. The council is currently developing its climate change strategy and would like to hear ideas from our residents on how we might tackle the climate emergency together. I would encourage all residents in the East Riding to follow the links to the survey and take part - it really is an opportunity for you to have your say."