Yorkshire and Humber could help pave the way on green agenda, says region’s new Climate Commission chair

Due to the diversity of Yorkshire’s landscape, the challenges the commission aims to address are both wide-spread and wide ranging – covering everything from industrial decarbonisation to nature restoration and even human health.

But according to the Commission’s new chair, if the region is able to solve these challenges, Yorkshire and the Humber could serve as a blueprint for how the rest of the country could move forwards.

“Here in the region, we have almost a mini England,” says Rotherham-born Asif Husain-Naviatti, who took over as chair of the commission in Janury with almost three decades of high-level experience at the UN and World Bank on sustainable development.

“We have all the challenges that the UK Government itself has to face. We have significant industrial areas, where carbon reduction is of paramount importance, as well as vast areas of wonderful natural beauty, where nature restoration is hugely important.

“All of these issues touch upon the national questions around climate change, which makes Yorkshire and the Humber a significant piece of the puzzle in the UK. But that also means that there is the opportunity to influence others, and success here could inspire others.”

As the transition to sustainable energy production progresses, the region has been home to number of disagreements about land use and the placement of green energy facilities.

One way to move forward through this, Husain-Naviatti believes, is to make affected communities part of the conversation around such issues.

“Compromises need to be made in the end, but if you really want to get communities on board, they should be part of the conversation,” he says.

“And very often, it turns out that when you do engage in such a dialogue at community level, people themselves can come up with solutions that very often elude politicians.

“I’m not pretending that there are easy solutions there, I think the best decisions are made when all people involved are properly informed, and that they are part of a constructive dialogue, and that people realise and understand the trade-offs involved."

Energy production, however, is just a small part of the challenge in Yorkshire and the Humber’s move towards a more sustainable way of living. One of the often overlooked aspects of the green transition, says Husain-Naviatti, is human health.

“I think we need to realise when we’re talking about the co-benefits of climate change, very often we’re not pursuing climate change for the sake of climate change alone,” he says.

“Health is a climate change question. If, for example, you encourage people to use alternative forms of transport, including walking and bicycles, there is an improvement to health as well as significant carbon reduction. The carbon reduction itself improves air quality, but there are also benefits to type two diabetes, and more general human health.

“We know that cold homes result in respiratory conditions, and cardiovascular problems, and retrofitting homes, apart from saving on energy bills, can help with this.

“Climate change previously came to be regarded as a bit of a luxury, that you address when you have dealt with those other problems, but I'm saying that climate change and those other problems are one and the same.”

Part of the responsibility of the YHCC, Husain-Naviatti believes, is also to inspire people to act.

“People are often quite phased by the fact that climate change is such a complicated issue. It can become monstrously complex, and in many people’s minds, unresolvable. And when people feel something is unresolvable, they don’t do anything,” he says.

“You need the buy-in from people, so by advocating and by showing what can be done, by putting all the positive stories forward, It becomes a model. If it was successful in one place, it can be in another. Suddenly the narrative begins to change. That is what we stand for, and I think is a very positive, forward looking approach to dialogue.”