My plan for a cleaner, greener, more sustainable South Yorkshire

That means I will:

Continue our progress towards the Mayor’s Million Trees target, planting one tree for every person in South Yorkshire. 

Through the Mayor’s Million Tree project we are planting one tree for every person who lives in South Yorkshire; 1.4 million trees in total. We have already made good progress towards that target, but I will accelerate that programme so we can give South Yorkshire the natural infrastructure that trees provide. Trees help us mitigate the impact of climate breakdown, promote biodiversity, and clean our air, and yet in many parts of South Yorkshire we don’t have enough. I will reverse that trend through the Mayor’s Million Tree project.

Develop a clean energy strategy, putting us at the forefront of the next industrial revolution.

Families across South Yorkshire have been faced with hugely inflated energy bills, while our climate is breaking down because of the carbon intensity of our energy networks. South Yorkshire has the assets and expertise to help solve those twin challenges. We have research expertise through our universities that will lead the world’s transition to carbon free energy tomorrow, while companies like ITM Power and Forgemasters are creating the energy technologies of the future today. I will develop a clean energy strategy for South Yorkshire that helps to establish South Yorkshire as a global leader in clean energy, and I will explore opportunities for local energy solutions that help reduce people’s bills.   

Put the voices of our communities at the heart of our climate transition through our Citizens’ Assembly, and by running a Youth Climate Assembly. 

Last year we held the UK’s biggest regional citizens’ assembly; one hundred people, chosen to represent the full diversity of our region, tasked with developing a set of priorities for our transition to net-zero. I am determined we will put the voices of our communities at the heart of that just transition, so we can get to net-zero by 2040 in a way that has the support of people across South Yorkshire. So we will use the recommendations of our citizens’ assembly as the basis of our plan for that just transition, and hold a Youth Climate Assembly, giving our young people the chance to shape those decisions too.    

Secure the funding to deliver the next phase of the ‘Connected by Water’ project, protecting homes across South Yorkshire from flooding. 

Flooding is a real, present and growing threat to communities across South Yorkshire. As we have seen in recent years, flooding has a devastating impact that can take years to overcome. And yet we know what the solutions can look like. Connected by Water is a pioneering South Yorkshire project, bringing together partners to build a flood resilient South Yorkshire. I will work with the Environment Agency, the government and our local councils to further develop and deliver the Connected by Water project, so we can protect all our region from flooding.

In partnership with national and regional environmental organisations, deliver a Local Nature Recovery Strategy to protect our beautiful environment and natural assets.

While this government have allowed water companies to dump sewage in our rivers, and failed to protect our environment, we will take a different approach in South Yorkshire. Because our Good Growth model doesn’t simply require us to grow the economy, but to do so within our natural limits, while respecting, protecting and nurturing our natural assets. Our Local Nature Recovery Strategy will draw on the best expertise available, balancing our ambitions for economic growth with our very real need to increase biodiversity, clean our water and our air, support natural habitats and properly manage and grow our woodlands and wetlands.