Climate Action Leeds
Zero carbon, nature friendly, socially just Leeds by the 2030s
Sector and campaign support
Building on the priorities identified by the Leeds Climate Change Citizen’s Jury, Climate Action Leeds selected seven key areas of focus for our programme.
The seven sector themes are: energy, housing, food, nature, work & economy, youth & education, and transport.
For each theme we have appointed a transition partner. The transition partners act as sector organisers, inspiring and organising change around their area of interest and expertise.
They serve as hubs which bring together expertise, insights and action, sharing this with the community hubs and city hub too.
They host regular assemblies around their particular area and are working towards developing a sector plan that feeds into the city plan and will support community-led networks and action towards a just transition.
Transition partners
The seven Climate Action Leeds transition themes and partners are:
Energy
People Powered Homes
Our transition partner, People Powered Homes, is working as part of Climate Action Leeds in the housing sector. Their overall aim is to develop a plan to transform Leeds’ housing sector into one which is compatible with a zero carbon, nature friendly and socially just city as well as contribute to the city-wide just transition road map to ensure cross-sector thinking around climate change.
To achieve this they are working in a number of areas. Firstly, to ensure everyone is on board with the Leeds city-wide plan for transition to a zero carbon, nature friendly, socially just city People Powered Homes will be working and connecting with policy and decision makers, employers, and landlords in the housing sector.
They are doing key mapping work as they identify and connect existing housing related groups and organisations in the city so they can signpost to their services and facilitate collaboration. This work is an integral part of providing our Community Hubs with advice and support on climate related housing issues to allow them to take their own local actions.
This work with the Community Hubs will also be complemented by workshops and resources created in collaboration with other transition partners delivered to both individuals and organisations across Leeds. These sessions and resources will help both groups to make their own homes and buildings more energy efficient and reduce their carbon footprint by looking at topics such as insulation, retrofit, fuel poverty, and the intersections with other issues including nature and energy.
Housing
Food
Hyde Park Source
Our transition partner, Hyde Park Source, is working in the nature sector to bring together expertise, insights and action. They are a community organisation that is focused on improving the health and wellbeing of Leeds’ population by improving the natural environment.
They are working towards developing a ‘Green Leeds Action’ plan which is to feed into the city-wide plan, support a community-led response to the Climate Emergency, and move Leeds towards a zero carbon, nature friendly, socially just city by the 2030s.
Hyde Park Source is intent on supporting existing nature based work and networks exist across Leeds by connecting and empowering these people and organisations. It is hoped this will enable and support more nature based activity throughout the city.
Nature
Emilie Tricarico
Emilie Tricarico is an ecological economist working with project partner Leeds Tidal to deliver a just transition within the "work & economy" sector.
Work & Economy
Youth & Education
The Transport transition partners are supporting the work of groups working for increased rates of active travel, reduced car use and an improved public transport system for Leeds. They are framing their work around 'mobility justice' and believe that everyone has the right to be able to move around the city in a way that is accessible, affordable and safe for them. Naomi is a co-director at a not-for-profit, local bike cooperative.
The transport partners have compiled a document which signposts to a range of transport related opportunities and resources in Leeds, and encourage anyone to reach out if they need support pursuing any of these initiatives. They are looking to collaborate with communities who are interested in holding car free days on a local street, using the 'Streets for People' or 'Play Streets' frameworks, with a view to setting up regular car free days where there is a local desire for them.
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They are also drafting their first transport plan - visioning a transport system which is nature friendly, zero carbon and socially just. This will incorporate the priorities, barriers and visions identified by local communities, campaigners and stakeholders.​
Transport
Why ‘transition'?
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Building on that history, ‘just transition’ is now used more widely to refer to the push for a transition to economies that provide dignified, productive and ecologically sustainable livelihoods that are governed directly by workers and communities.
​We see this pathway, from the extractive economy towards a regenerative economy, as our best means towards addressing root causes and achieving a just, sustainable and zero carbon Leeds by the 2030s.
Credit goes to Decolonizing Economics and Movement Generation for their definition and framework. View full Movement Generation document 'A Strategic Framework for a Just Transition' (pdf).
Climate Action Leeds believes in transformative change.
'Just transition' strategies were first forged by labour unions and environmental justice groups who saw the need to phase out the industries that were harming workers, community health and the planet, while also providing just pathways for workers into new livelihoods.
