In January 2019, Kirklees Council declared a climate emergency on the basis that we must all take urgent action to improve and protect our environment. 

The content below is adapted from the climate emergency section of the council website. 

The climate emergency

Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide trap heat energy within the atmosphere. The more greenhouse gases there are in the atmosphere, the more the Earth heats up.

The amount of carbon dioxide and other emissions within the atmosphere from human activity is now causing an overall warming of the planet, with devastating impacts. For more information on the UK’s changing climate, see the latest State of the UK Climate report from the Met Office.

Kirklees is already experiencing the impacts of a changing climate, with extreme weather such as heatwaves and rainfall resulting in moorland fires and flooding across the district.

These events will occur more often and becoming harder-hitting if we continue to emit greenhouse gases. Their costs are experienced more keenly by the most vulnerable, disadvantaged, and marginalised groups within Kirklees.

It is vitally important that Kirklees acts to both reduce emissions and plan to reduce the impacts the district will experience due to our changing climate.

Tackling climate change formed an important part of the Council Plan, with the vision of a “Net Zero and Climate Ready Kirklees by 2038“.

This would provide Kirklees with focus on both mitigation and adaptation to climate change. 

For mitigation, carbon emissions from human activities within Kirklees will need to be dramatically reduced to zero, with any remaining emissions safely removed from the atmosphere.

Adaptation is about strengthening Kirklees’ process for adjusting to the actual and expected climate and its effects. Taking action on adaptation will reduce the potential impact that our changing climate will have on Kirklees through flooding, storms, and higher temperatures.

Emissions reduction target

The overall target for Kirklees is to achieve net zero emissions by 2038.

This date is aligned with regional partners, and rooted in scientific advice. “Net zero emissions” means that any remaining emissions within the district are balanced by additional removal of greenhouse gases, either within the district or elsewhere.

In August 2019, the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research produced a report for Kirklees Council outlining recommended climate change targets. These were based on the commitments in the 2015 Paris Agreement to stay “well below 2°C and pursuing 1.5°C” in the average global temperature rise, in line with national and international commitments. This work was informed by climate science and defined in terms of science-based carbon budget setting.

The report recommended that Kirklees aims to “reach zero or near zero carbon no later than 2041.”

Following this report, Kirklees Council set a more ambitious target to reach net zero emissions by 2038. This is aligned with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s target, and the regional target for Yorkshire and Humber set by the Yorkshire Leaders Board.

Kirklees Council also set five-year stepping-stone targets for emissions reduction. For full details, download the Kirklees Climate Change Action Plan (2022). 

To read a detailed assessment of how Kirklees can reach its emissions targets, download A Net-Zero Assessment for Kirklees (2021).

To find out more about how emissions can be reduced across the wider region, download the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Action Plan (2024) from the Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commission.

Adaptation target

Kirklees Council’s target for climate change adaptation is to be “Climate Ready by 2038”.

This means helping the whole area of Kirklees, its communities, residents, infrastructure, and environment, to not only reduce emissions but to be prepared for the impacts of increasingly severe weather events.

This strategy accepts that historic emissions released into the atmosphere by human activity mean that significant global heating is already locked in, with consequences which are already being felt by communities within Kirklees, across the UK, and around the world.

It is important to understand the impacts and opportunities which climate change presents to the communities and business within Kirklees. We also need to develop measures that can protect the most vulnerable residents, alongside reducing the economic, environmental, and broader social impact that will be experienced.

For more information on the risks facing Kirklees and its communities, download the council’s Climate Change Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (2022).

Key documents on Kirklees and the climate emergency

A Net-Zero Assessment for Kirklees: A Technical and Economic Options Appraisal (2021) – detailed assessment of how Kirklees can reduce emissions, compiled by the University of Leeds on behalf of the Place-Based Climate Action Network

Kirklees Climate Change Action Plan (2022) – details of how emissions can be reduced in different economic areas including buildings, energy, natural environment, food and agriculture, transport and waste. 

Appendix A – Existing Actions (2022) – details of actions undertaken within the first phase of Kirklees Council’s climate emergency response.

Appendix D – Stakeholder Survey Results (2022) – summary of responses to a survey of Kirklees residents carried out in May/June 2022. 86% of respondents said they were very or fairly concerned about the climate, with 80% supporting the Kirklees net zero target.

Climate Change Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (2022) – details of 392 risks and associated opportunities of a changing climate for Kirklees. The study was undertaken by WSP UK Ltd, in alignment with BS EN ISO 14091:2021 methodology. 

Kirklees Climate Emergency Declaration and the Kirklees Air Quality Strategy and Five Year Air Quality Action Plan(2019) – initial report from Kirklees Council’s Climate Emergency Working Party to the Cabinet.