Sheffield to hold its first Climate Summit: Building back better through addressing climate change

Grey to Green in Sheffield city centre

Update: We’ve had so much interest in the Sheffield Climate Summit that we’ve extended the number of people who can attend the talks and presentations.

Spaces are still limited and are not bookable in advance so ensure you arrive early to avoid disappointment. 

You can join the webinar using this link

Or by joining webinar ID: 925 8975 2709

With the passcode: 333688

Unfortunately spaces for the breakout workshops are now full, but you can provide comments and feedback for consideration using our online survey. 

If you're unable to attend or want to say more than the session allows for, you can put forward your ideas on the questions being discussed during the workshops. You also have the opportunity to sign up to be kept in touch with future work. Due to capacity issues, we won't be able to respond to submissions individually, but they will feed into the work that we do together as a city.

We want to hear from you - tell us your ideas.

Sheffield City Council is holding its first Zero Carbon Sheffield Summit on 19 March where it will release the Pathways to Zero report - the city’s response to the climate crisis.

The summit will be online, open to the public and feature talks from the lead author, sustainability expert Andy Sheppard of Arup, Chief Executive of Community Energy England Emma Bridge and Sheffield City Council’s new Chief Executive Kate Josephs.

In 2019 Sheffield City Council announced its ambition to become a zero carbon city by 2030 and that goal remains, but the Pathways to Zero report shows just how significant the challenges are and highlights the desperate need for the entire city, and the country, to work together harder than ever before to reduce emissions.

The report shows the challenges of reaching even an 85% reduction by 2030 and highlights important steps people across the city can take, including switching from fossil fuels to zero carbon alternatives and changing to healthier lifestyles.

The biggest reductions can be made by switching away from petrol or diesel cars, replacing gas boilers with efficient heat pumps, and investing in buildings to save energy by reducing wasteful heat loss. Changing how we travel, and what we buy and throw away, and how we do business will also play an important part.

The report shows how changes we need to make can have benefits for people’s lives and increase jobs. Reduced air pollution, healthier and more comfortable homes, and skilled job opportunities for local people are just some of the benefits to addressing the climate crisis in Sheffield.

The authority remains ambitious and is calling for a citywide commitment from every individual, business and organisation.

Councillor Mark Jones, Cabinet Member for Environment, Streetscene and Climate Change, said:

“We knew that zero carbon was an ambitious commitment and would be a challenge, but these reports give us a clear, evidenced-based route we can take to reduce emissions. We remain ambitious and will continue striving towards our target.

“We are constantly working towards this, recent progress includes our plans for a greener vehicle fleet and installation of new electric charge points and we continue to prioritise sustainability across projects and policies.

“We can lead the way, but we can’t do it alone, we need everyone, as well as the Government to recognise their responsibility in this so that we can all look forward to a cleaner greener future. This summit is the start of a zero carbon conversation with the city and will help us put a plan in action to tackle the climate crisis.” 

Councillor Terry Fox, Deputy Leader of Sheffield City Council, said:

“We have an opportunity to build back better from the pandemic and it’s really important that we hear from the people who live, work and study here, to make plans that work for and benefit everyone. We need to position the changes we’ve been faced with to our advantage, including better travel options, more efficient homes and local jobs, that will improve the fabric of the city.

“We’re investing millions of pounds to embed sustainability across council initiatives* and we will look to align these to the recommendations in the Pathways to Zero report. We can take many positive actions from it, but the report also emphasises the challenge we are faced with. We can make fantastic progress if the whole city plays their part, and our approach will be to engage, enable and empower our citizens, but we need support from Government and changes at national level to make that extra difference if we are to meet the zero target by 2030.”

The Summit will have an introduction to the detail of the reports from Andy Sheppard, while Emma Bridge, Chief Executive of Community Energy England will talk about the potential for communities to benefit from climate action. 

Andy Sheppard, Arup’s Lead Sustainability Expert in the North West and Yorkshire said:

“Climate change impacts everyone and we all have to play our part in order to reach net-zero. Employing city-wide solutions, driven by strong leadership, will enable Sheffield to make impactful emissions reductions and ingrain climate action into daily life. This report fires the starting gun for coordinated, comprehensive and continuous action on Sheffield’s journey to carbon neutrality.”

The reports have been developed over the last 9 months by Arup and Ricardo, in partnership with the Sheffield City Council and the Green City Partnership Board, a group of local stakeholders with representatives from local businesses, Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, both universities and campaign groups including the Sheffield Climate Alliance.

Attendees will have the chance to take part in workshops exploring:

• What is already happening in Sheffield
• The benefits for people and businesses in Sheffield
• The barriers to addressing climate change and how we can work together as a city to overcome them

Sign up for the Summit on Eventbrite

For those who cannot attend, the reports and event content will be available online after the Summit. Details of where this is available will be shared once available.

In the last year responding to the pandemic has taken precedent over delivery of many other planned projects but Sheffield City Council has still taken significant steps towards plans and projects that will reduce carbon emissions.

*Announced in its 2021/22 budget the council has spelled out its plan and vision for the city with £160 million of sustainable investment over the next 5 years. This includes investment in to:

• Heart of the City providing first Grade A zero carbon accommodation
• Improving public transport, walking and cycling links
• Extending the hugely successful Grey to Green scheme
• Creating new walking and cycling routes in Tinsley
• Plans for the city's first active neighbourhood at Kelham & Neepsend
• Installation of new electric charge points
• Plans to create a greener vehicle fleet across council services, and retrofitting buses to upgrade engines across the city’s fleet
• Supporting Sheffield businesses to trial new electric vans, and purchasing e-bikes
• Secured funding to introduce a scheme to let local taxi drivers trial use of an electric taxi
• Investing in our council housing to make homes more energy efficient, including building new council houses, electrical upgrades to 22,000 council properties, external wall insulation to council properties and community heating schemes

Sign up to the council’s environment email alerts to receive information about other work, progress and plans that will contribute to the city’s sustainability and climate change commitments.