Combined Authority commits £40m to support shift to net zero
The West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) has committed £40m to tackle the climate and environment emergency – its largest single investment ever – as it allocated its budget for 2022/23.
The funding which comes from the £1.8bn Mayoral devolution deal which was announced in 2020 by the Chancellor. The new Climate Fund has been designed to allow the combined authority to begin delivery of its West Yorkshire Climate and Environment Plan and details how the region will move to being net zero by 2038 at the latest.
Cllr Tim Swift
Cllr Tim Swift, chair of the combined authority’s Climate, Energy and Environment committee, added: “The £40m Climate allocation represents the single largest investment we have ever made into tackling one of the biggest issues we face – the climate and environment emergency.”
Swift who is also leader of Calderdale council added that this funding was “only the start” as WYCA and its partners must work together to secure “the rest of the funding we need” so that the benefits of a shift to a zero carbon economy can be shared by all.
During in the authority’s first meeting of the year members also confirmed funding of what it described as “an ambitious new Healthtech Strategy” that aims to capitalise on the region’s strengths in the sector and make it the number one place in the UK for entrepreneurs, innovators and industry.
Tracy Brabin, the Mayor of West Yorkshire, said: “Health innovation and healthtech transforms health and care services. It improves health outcomes and patient well-being and it can even save lives.
“As we emerge from the pandemic, there are deepening inequalities in health that we must address.
“This strategy is crucial to tackling those entrenched inequalities as well as putting our region on the map, attracting investment from around the globe, creating well paid jobs and making the most of the talent already here.”
The topic of funding and investment alongside innovation within the key sectors including healthtech in the North will form part of the discussion at the upcoming Invest North 2022 virtual conference, which will bring business and political leaders together to discuss how the ongoing rhetoric around the North and Levelling Up can in fact be transformed into realistic economic growth which delivers for the people and businesses which live and work in the region.
Curated by TheBusinessDesk.com and its headline sponsor Squire Patton Boggs, and supported by Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, TransPennine Express, Mott Macdonald, Progeny, Campaigner, Influential and becg; sessions will consider whether the future for inward investment is a collegiate Northern Powerhouse or city focus brands, the story and vision for the North, and how key sectors are helping create thousands of jobs in the region while shaping millions of lives globally.
Book your tickets now to receive the special early bird price.
In addition to the packed one day conference, Invest North 2022 will also include a networking dinner on 3 March at the Radisson Edwardian in Manchester, where attendees will swap pixels for plates continue and develop the conversations from the conference and share views on the opportunities, challenges and even next steps for the North as the region continues to forge ahead a new destiny in the wake of challenges. Tickets for the networking dinner are available now and include a drink on arrive and a three course dinner.
