After committing to being carbon neutral by 2030 in 2019, Leeds City Council is battling against time to transform the city into a beacon of sustainability. From electric cars to LED streetlights, can Leeds meet its ambitious Net Zero target in time?

In 2023, Leeds City Council received an ‘A’ grade from the Carbon Disclosure Project, recognising their ongoing efforts to move towards a greener future. One example of this is their transition towards electric vehicles (EVs) for the city’s fleet, including buses and vans. The EV fleet stands at 380 vehicles according to the Council, which is also the largest carbon-neutral fleet of any local authority across the United Kingdom. Despite the city’s carbon emissions from vehicles reducing by 39% from 2018/19, there is still room for improvements in relation to the accessibility to electric vehicles and regulations. 

A pivotal aspect of achieving net zero by 2030 will be installing more charging stations in both urban and rural areas across the city. As the Leeds Policy Institute has previously discussed, "the lagging implementation of appropriate infrastructure" is a significant barrier to EV ownership in the UK, largely due to a lack of direction from Westminster.  For instance, government regulations have mandated that 80% of the vehicles sold in the UK must be ‘Zero Emissions’, a move criticised for lacking “clarity over the role authorities were expected to play in delivering EV charging infrastructure”. Other issues include an inability to make decisions due to a lack of available data and funding structures being too short and nearsighted to deliver EV infrastructure sustainably. These challenges are a significant hindrance to the 2030 target, as an additional  9,000 rapid charging points have to be installed to keep up with the demand of the Council’s growing fleet of electric vehicles, and to encourage the ownership of private electric cars for the wider community.

Additionally, Leeds City Council has found that the street lamps across the city are one of the main sources of energy consumption. The lighting, taking up to 30% of the energy across Leeds, has already been tackled by the council. In 2023 Leeds completed their 4 year initiative of changing the city’s lighting to LEDs, with a significant reduction in carbon emissions from 14,857 tonnes in 2018/19 to 5,854 tonnes in 2022/23. One of the most significant benefits of the transition towards LED streetlights is the dramatic cost savings, as these lights have three times the lifespan of incandescent bulbs, reducing turnover and waste, resulting in up to 50% energy savings. Additionally, LEDs produce less light pollution, as they are able to “produce a more uniform light distribution that improves visibility”.  This demonstrates how Leeds City Council has started and is continuing to take the necessary steps in order to achieve Net Zero, as they have completed sustainability projects in line with the research on the climate crisis. 

Another issue surrounding achieving Net Zero in local authorities is the funding and management of securing sustainable development. Leeds City Council receives a significant contribution to achieve Net Zero through grants and funds from Westminster, with £35 million being allocated every year to the Council. However, despite the £100 million the council has received since 2019, this has been insufficient, with the council opening the conversation for inviting private investors to fill the funding gap. This, in turn, reveals the question about the direction the Council is going by privatising the environmental crisis. 

The Council has suggested that funds from private investors such as the Green Finance Institute, go towards the profitable industries of housing and infrastructure. While private funding only contributes to less than 10% of all the funding allocated to West Yorkshire’s local authorities, there still needs to be further clarity into who is benefitting the most from these private investments. This leads to the question: Is our city’s environment and climate only worth funding when it can create monetary gains? There must be greater transparency between the private sector in energy efficiency and who is benefitting the most, the shareholder, or the public. “A unified data framework is necessary to…identify where Net Zero delivery is most economical, where co-benefits are the most significant, and where people are the most likely to lose out.”

Leeds City Council has laid a strong foundation for a greener future, but the next five years will be decisive. Achieving Net Zero by 2030 demands bold decisions, innovative solutions, and a unified effort from the city council, national government, private sector and citizens alike. The question is: Are we ready to rise to the challenge?