COUNCILLORS could sign York up to a European agreement to meet climate change targets.

Members of City of York Council's climate change committee will be asked if they want to join the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy - a movement that asks local authorities to commit to cutting CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2030.

The council has already committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

The agreement would see the council do a climate change assessment, submit an energy action plan and report to the organisation on its progress.

A report prepared for the meeting on Monday says more than 9,000 local authorities in 57 countries have signed up - including Bath, Birmingham and Dublin in the UK.

It adds: "In the terms of the covenant, signatories to it endorse a shared vision for 2050 of accelerating the decarbonisation of their territories, strengthening their capacity to adapt to unavoidable climate change impacts, and allowing their citizens to access secure, sustainable and affordable energy."

The covenant says: "This common vision drives our action to tackle interconnected challenges: climate change mitigation, adaptation and sustainable energy.

"Together, we stand ready to deliver concrete, long term measures that provide an environmentally, socially and economically stable environment for present and future generations."

The meeting will also hear that York needs to reduce its carbon emissions by 13 per cent every year to meet climate change targets in the Paris Agreement.

Experts will speak at the meeting and a draft carbon budget in the report says: "To stay within the recommended carbon budget York will, from 2020 onwards, need to achieve average mitigation rates of CO from energy of around -13.0 per cent per year.

"This will require that York rapidly transitions away from unabated fossil fuel use."

The meeting takes place at 5.30pm at West Offices.