City of York Council has been awarded £65,000 to spend on building projects designed to reduce carbon emissions and achieve Net Zero.

City of York Council was one of only 30 places in the country to receive the new funding, which is being awarded for innovative approaches to delivering net zero, cutting the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) released into the atmosphere.

The funding will be used in the spring and summer of 2023 on measures tailored to specific needs and characteristics of buildings and building users across the City of York and will be delivered in partnership with Brightsparks, Energy Systems Catapult, University of York, and Abundance Investment. The new measures will be backed up with financial solutions to make delivery easier.

The funding has come from Phase One of Innovate UK’s Net Zero Living programme. Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will invest up to £2 million in innovation projects.

Councillor Paula Widdowson, Executive Member for Environment and Climate Change, said, “this is an exciting opportunity and further evidence that York – already recognised as an A-List Global Climate Action Leader – is at the forefront of net zero innovation and progress.

“I’m proud of our staff and partners who have brought this Net Zero Living programme funding to York through an evidenced and urgent approach to the problems of climate change, and I encourage property owners in the action zones to work with us to take advantage of this boost to our net zero ambitions.”

Andrew Clark, Business Leader (Place) at Energy Systems Catapult, said, “York City Council’s Local Area Energy Plan demonstrated what is possible and what needs to be done to achieve its aims of becoming net zero by 2030.

“We’re incredibly excited to be working with the council and other partners in taking the next step on the decarbonisation pathway by exploring how evidence from the LAEP can be used to establish a neighbourhood-centred approach to net zero.”