Some examples of what we have achieved so far

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• Engaging with North Yorkshire Council: We’ve held regular meetings with NYC officers (the climate team, senior management and even the chief executive) to press for more ambitious climate policies in the Council’s strategies and action plans.

• Influencing climate policy at YNYCA: Since the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority (YNYCA) was formed, we’ve also been engaging with the mayor and his team. Here’s the statement we read out at the first YNYCA meeting in 2024. Last year, we met David Skaith to discuss how we can support the ambition for YNY to become England’s first carbon-negative region.

• Public consultations: We’ve submitted feedback on public consultations by NYC (see our response to the NYC draft Climate Change Delivery Pathway in 2024) and were involved from the beginning in the development of the Mayor’s new Strategy for a Sustainable Future (due for adoption in November).

• Elections: We’ve covered various elections and by-elections through manifestos, surveys, hustings and interviews, including the last general election in 2024 and the mayoral election in 2024. Right now, we’re working on a strategy to cover the next council elections in May 2027.

• National and regional campaigning: In August this year, we submitted Coalition responses to the government consultations on Jackdaw and Rosebank and wrote to the Secretary of State.

• Making our voice heard in the media: We’ve had several opinion pieces published in regional media, e.g. encouraging Rishi Sunak as PM to go to COP27, urging North Yorkshire MPs and councillors to act on climate change and making the case for rejecting Jackdaw and Rosebank.

• Annual conferences: We’ve held two annual conferences bringing together local climate and nature groups across the county and beyond, most recently in July this year in York, with high-profile guest speakers, a marketplace and a series of workshops. Check out the event video on our YouTube channel and the final conference report here.

Governance: We’ve established a steering group with members from local groups across the county and drawn up a constitution setting out a vision, mission and objectives.