We want to transform our region’s economy and support healthy, thriving communities by making big changes through climate action.
Our Strategy for a Sustainable Future is at the heart of these goals and will ensure York and North Yorkshire becomes England’s first carbon negative region by 2040.
What our Strategy for a Sustainable Future means for you
- More affordable energy bills
- Warmer, more comfortable homes
- Cleaner air and better health
- Safer, more convenient and sustainable travel options
- New high-quality jobs
- Opportunities to connect with others to deliver climate action projects in your community.
How we’ll achieve this
The Strategy for a Sustainable Future (previously called our Routemap to Carbon Negative) comes following development work and close collaboration with our key partners.
These partners include businesses, sustainability-focussed community organisations and our regional authorities – City of York Council and North Yorkshire Council – as well as key stakeholders across energy, transport, industry, housing, and farming.
The final document is expected to be published in 2026.
At the heart of the Strategy are the three pillars on which we’ll build the successful transformation to a low-carbon economy and healthy, thriving communities.
Our three strategic pillars
- Securing energy independence: Our Local Area Energy Plans demonstrate we can produce enough renewable energy right here to power our region and beyond. This will minimise vulnerability to global energy markets and help lower energy bills for households and businesses, while supporting national energy security.
- Moving towards a circular economy: A thriving circular economy would keep products and materials in use, whilst eliminating waste and pollution. We’ll move away from the “take-make-dispose” model and ensure materials stay circulating within our economy. This means reducing supply chain waste and supporting manufacturing products to last longer, while switching to using more sustainable materials.
- Enhancing our environment: We believe we should be putting more back into the earth than we take out. We’ll support restoring, preserving, and harnessing nature to improve biodiversity, capture carbon, and support climate resilience.
Through practices like regenerative agriculture and nature restoration we can improve access to beautiful spaces, produce healthier locally grown food, and increase climate resilience.
What next?
In November 2025 the framework for our Strategy for a Sustainable Future was approved at a meeting of York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority.
We are now working to create the final Strategy, which we expect to be ready in 2026.
