May 2nd 2024 Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Mayoral and PCC elections — candidates, voter ID and where to vote.

Communities and safety

Action on climate change

In 2019 Liverpool City Council declared that planet Earth is facing a climate change emergency.

All political parties within the city agreed to work together to rise to the challenge of an impending ecological disaster by making Liverpool a Net Zero Carbon city by 2030.

Liverpool's net zero carbon goal

A 2030 Net Zero Liverpool Action Plan sets out the actions that Liverpool can take to become a net zero city in 2030. It is a hugely challenging target, but one that can bring many benefits.

A 2030 Net Zero Liverpool is a thriving, fair and sustainable city. Climate action will have stimulated the local green economy and placed Liverpool at the forefront of new industries which will form the backbone of our future economy.

The city will have also stopped all contributions to climate change and have demonstrated leadership to other cities in the UK and globally. The city will also be more resilient to the climate changes we are already experiencing. See the full the plan and it's appendices below.

Progress so far

Citywide impacts

It is estimated Liverpool has already cut 840,000 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere since 2005 and has planted more half a million trees in the past 25 years.

Liverpool City Council (LCC) is delivering the Sustainable Warmth Fund grant. The grant is available to help 700 households across Liverpool. It can be used to install a number of insulation and energy measures to residential homes. Some of these measures may include cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, under floor insulation, air source heat pumps, solar panels and replacement windows and doors.

Council impacts

LCC has secured a fixed rate green energy tariff from 2023 and is buying the renewables guarantees of origin to offset electricity impacts. It has also submitted a £9M bid to decarbonise four leisure centres using heat exchange technology and PV solar.

Decarbonisation surveys are underway for libraries, St George's Hall, the Town Hall and Milstead SEN School to design and seek funding on site energy reduction and heating system replacement with a zero carbon option.

LCC has appointed a new sustainability team and work is underway in developing a Net Zero Carbon Plan to achieve complete decarbonisation of all LCC’s direct and indirect emissions from building occupation, service delivery and transport across LCC, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and Liverpool's schools.

The Net Zero Plan sets out a strategy to achieve Net Zero by 2030 by reducing energy consumption by up to 60%, replace gas heating and hot water with low carbon and renewable technologies, and offset any remaining usage with verifiable reductions caused by LCC’s policies, controls and delivery such as staff commuting controls and incentives, large scale tree planting.

Liverpool City Council total Co2 emissions glidepath to 2030
Liverpool City Council total Co2 emissions glidepath to 2030

The bar chart shows a glide path from the baseline year 2019 up to 2030 and the total Co2 emissions the council hope to offset (reduce) each year and the actions they intend to take to make this happen. Each year has a label with a key action to be taken. 2023 LED leisure centre decarbonised heat, 2024 decarbonised street lights, Biomass Newton Road, 2025 Cunard and Library solar panel heating PV, 2026 Large space decarbonised heating, 2027 Crematoria water heating, 2028 Net zero venues, insulation, 2029 Liverpool schools and fire stations heating decarbonised, and 2030 EV Fleet, Bio D Plant, Paddington Hydrogen.

Transport initiatives

LCC has recently installed a further 6km of segregated cycle lane, and a fleet of electric and hydrogen powered buses and as your local authority, with responsibility for Public Health, we are also developing complementary clean air and active travel strategies.

City sustainability and ecology

As a lead partner in the URBAN GreenUP project we are also investing £4m into a range of new green infrastructure to tackle climate change impacts including a new phase of tree planting in the city centre.

What happens next?

More needs to be done. Much more.

But the council cannot do this alone. 40% of carbon emissions come from homes. Better insulated houses – from the attic to windows will make a huge difference to our environment. Everyone can play their role – be it your diet, clothing, or how you travel.

Get in touch

We want to hear from you. Get in touch with your ideas on how we can reach our 2030 net zero carbon goal for Liverpool, or give us feedback on our progress so far - please contact us online now.