A NORTH Yorkshire council has set out how it plans to become carbon neutral by 2030.

Selby District Council had been aiming to reach carbon neutral status by 2050, but now hopes to do so 20 years earlier, in line with North Yorkshire County Council’s goal.

The council’s deputy leader and portfolio lead for low carbon, Richard Musgrave, said it was “a big step forward”.

The council’s executive has approved plans to fully offset its carbon footprint from 2018 until 2023, when it will cease to exist as a local authority, through tree planting, at a cost of £168,500.

And councillors are now considering a range of other measures to help reduce unavoidable emissions including divestment from fossil fuel energy sources and procuring all electricity for council buildings from a renewables tariff.

A council report shows that the authority’s total estimated carbon footprint from 2018-2019 was 2,592 tonnes, from both direct and indirect sources.

Council vehicles and leased vehicles make up 40 per cent of the total, with leased assets, including buildings such as leisures centres, making up 43 per cent.

The report states: “Within the district we have experienced the impacts of flooding, periods of reduced rainfall, high temperatures, and powerful storms, all of which have been made more likely due to climate change.”

Cllr Musgrave said: “We’ve identified the problem and we’re committed to dealing with it.

“We want to reduce our carbon footprint – that is our goal. 

“But we can’t do it at all costs. There comes a point where it is very difficult and expensive to reduce your carbon footprint any further. At that point you have to start offsetting your carbon footprint, rather than trying to reduce it if you had unlimited money.” The council’s low carbon strategy will be voted on at a full council meeting in December.

Cllr Musgrave added: “We’re acting now and planning for the future. The council won’t exist after April 2023 so we’ve got to make sure that what we’re doing dovetails with what the county council is doing.

“We have a very good track record of working with them and this is a natural extension to that work.”