What we have done

Kirklees Council have been working with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Electric Vehicle Network Operator ENGIE (now known as GeniePoint), to install a network of public rapid chargers across the region, which were free to use for a period of time. To continue to support our residents in the move to low emission vehicles, we are investing a further £1 million in delivering a mixture of fast and rapid charging points for public use across the district.

Read more about GeniePoint .

What we have done

The Green One permit provides free parking for electric vehicles (EVs) and 50% discounted parking for Ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs), as well as lower-emission vehicles (LEVs) including low emission hybrid vehicles. The permit covers all council run pay and display areas. Maximum stays will still be enforced through the use of a parking clock, similar to that used by disabled badge holders, and it does not guarantee a parking space.

Apply for a green parking permit.

What have we done

We now have over 110 electric or hybrid vehicles in our fleet. We are also installing three innovative 'vehicle to grid' (V2G) EV chargers in two of our council depots. These will feed excess vehicle charge back to the national grid when electric vehicles are not being used.

More information can be found in the Kirklees Together: Green Fleet on your Street .

What we have done

Since April 2021 Npower have been supplying electricity to the council that is independently verified renewable power, that's also fully compliant for zero-carbon reporting. The renewable energy matches the power consumed with the equivalent volume of renewable power supplied to the grid. This is evidenced by securing the corresponding number of Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) certificates, which are issued for each megawatt-hour (MWh) of renewable generation fed into the UK electricity system. The exact renewable mix is unknown until it is traded, but typically is a mix of Wind Power, Solar PV and Hydroelectricity.

What we have done

Planted 35,864 trees since 2019.

In the 2019/20 season, 8,366 trees were planted over 7 hectares in over more than 12 sites across the district. In 2020/21 season 27,498 trees were planted over 18 hectares across more than 27 sites. One of the key sites for tree planting is Dewsbury Country Park, which is a former landfill site, and is one of the largest new areas of tree planting in the north of England. The woodland creation programme aims to contribute to long-term carbon storage, reverse biodiversity loss and provide opportunities for access to high quality woodlands for our citizens as well as providing a home for nature.

Kirklees Council is supporting the White Rose Forest's action plan published in November 2021, which sets an interim target to increase tree cover up to a total coverage of 19% across WRF area by 2050.

Find out more information on The White Rose Forest .

What we have done

The Kirklees Climate Commission, whose creation has been led by Kirklees Council with assistance from partners, has been established as an independent advisory body to bring representatives from the public, private and third sectors together to support and guide ambitious climate actions across all parts of Kirklees. The main commission is set to meet quarterly with its first meeting in July 2021, hosted by the council in Dewsbury Town Hall. Moving forwards, the commission will continue to be supported by the council through the provision of a small secretariat. The Kirklees Climate Commission is part of the ESRC-funded Place-Based Climate Action Network (PCAN)

For more information visit the Kirklees Climate Commission

What we have done

The first two-day festival took place in March 2021, as an online event delivered by Kirklees Council's 'Our Voice' team. The second was two 1-day in-person events, held in October 2022 at Kirklees College and the Al Hikmah Centre, Batley.

Children and young people have creative ideas and are great at helping influence change. This festival aims to build on our climate conversation with children and young people so that they feel heard, and understand they play a big part of our vision.

The festival web resource continues to remain accessible to a wider audience at Young people's climate.

What we have done

In September 2022, Cabinet approved the Huddersfield District Energy Network (HDEN) project. HDEN is an opportunity in providing heat and power from the town's Energy from Waste (EfW) facility to premises in Huddersfield town centre.

The HDEN will play an important part in reducing the carbon emissions from the district's main town. Crucially, this will be primarily through the decarbonisation of heat, which is a much more challenging area of the energy industry to decarbonise relative to electricity. As the infrastructure of the network itself is likely to outlast several sources of heat, it is also considered a key enabling technology for future low carbon heat sources.

Read more about the Huddersfield Decentralised Energy Network (HDEN) Outline Business Case Approval.