Our last newsletter reported that the Bradford-Shipley road schemes have been knocked back again for further changes, but have also run out of money.
Meanwhile West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) are consulting on their Climate and Environment Plan 2025-2028, including their plans for transport. They ask you to complete a survey here, by 31st January 2025.
We know it will be difficult to achieve the absolutely necessary aim of reducing carbon emissions in this region so that by 2038 they no longer add to global warming. The BSTA committee will attend WYCA events to support the transformations needed.
This email outlines our support and our concerns for WYCA’s plans. You can consider these when responding to their survey which we urge you to do, using your own words and priorities.
Roads change – part of climate action
Fires, hurricanes, and cars floating in flooded waters – these have become regular features of news about supposedly developed countries. It is now accepted that these catastrophes will accelerate and are a result of the fossil fuel economy that must be replaced. WYCA have adopted a ‘pathway’ to reducing carbon emissions which involves a major shift away from cars towards cheaper public transport and other travel modes.
The survey asks if you support a list of proposed actions
The WYCA survey asks you if you support actions in five areas including “Reliable, affordable, integrated, zero emission transport”. For each of the five areas, it asks if you support a list of planned actions WYCA will undertake, some themselves, some to offer support, some to encourage, and others to lobby central government to take on.
A list of actions is not enough
We think that the proposed objectives and actions are reasonable. However, they imply great changes in everyday life and in investment of public funds. They must be successful in shifting to new energy sources, and also successful in gaining most people’s support. We have three concerns that we will make in the Travel Alliance’s own response.
- To achieve a target of net zero carbon emissions by 2038, a live plan is needed, that adjusts and accelerates as needs be, not only a fixed list of activities. An annual reduction in carbon emissions must be stated and kept to. A carbon budget needs the accuracy and insistence of a financial budget. This is not yet mentioned in the plan’s actions. See below for further explanation of the importance of sticking to the carbon budget.
- The transformation of transport and other aspects of everyday lives means bringing most people along in support of major changes, and the media too. WYCA will need to promote many educators, mobilisers and supporters in all walks of life. This needs highlighting in the plan.
- WYCA’s recognition that others including central government will have to be lobbied and persuaded is realistic and welcome. It will require a strong team of negotiators, with strategic pressures of carrots and sticks to achieve change.
Completing the survey
When you open the survey, you will see it consists of just two text boxes for you to write in, one to comment on its five objectives, and another to comment on the list of actions it proposes in the five areas.
BSTA suggests you reply in your own words to support the actions you approve of – and we think they are all relevant and well-intentioned. We ask you to include the three points above, without which the actions cannot be enough and may not be possible to successfully implement.
There are also questions about your town and age and so on, which are optional.
Why the carbon budget is so important
WYCA’s new plan and pathway sets a carbon budget – a limit to the total fossil fuel pollution our region can emit between now and 2038. Like a financial budget, it’s essential we do not overspend this budget. The strategy needs to have a laser focus on reducing pollution over the next 5 years, to ensure we have a chance of staying within our budget. If there is less pollution reduction now, deeper savings are needed in later years. The danger of delay is that if we overspend in early years, the cuts needed in later years will become too deep and rapid to be feasible.
It is essential to know now what WYCA emissions were in 2023 and 2024. If progress in those years was not on track, then the strategy needs to become more ambitious immediately. The chart illustrates this. The area under the blue line is the total carbon budget allowed from 2022 to 2038. If there have not been reductions, then the extra emissions in recent years have to be clawed back in later years. The orange line is an example of the clawing back that is necessary – to make up for the extra emissions there has to be steeper drops than planned, so that the total carbon emissions are kept on target.
Best wishes for the new year, from the team at Bradford-Shipley Travel Alliance
