Climate emergency response

We recognise the impact that climate change will have on Sheffield and its residents, as well as the contribution that we as a city can make to the future of our planet. We have declared a climate emergency and are working towards Sheffield becoming a zero-carbon city by the start of the next decade.

The biggest contributors to climate change in Sheffield are:

• electricity and gas used in business and industry
• energy we use in our homes, particularly gas used for heating
• transport (the flights people take and road travel by vehicles)
• the food that we eat (and the food that we waste)

From bigger energy and food bills to unpredictable and extreme weather, increased risk of flooding and negative impacts on our health, climate change and energy affects everyone. The Met Office have prepared a projection of the climate in Sheffield which predicts much hotter, drier summers and wetter but warmer winters.

2022 and 2023 saw record breaking heat across the world. In 2022, temperatures were over 40C for the first time in the UK and 39.4C in Sheffield. This significantly exceeds the previous maximum temperature of 35.6C in July 2019. The Autumn of 2023 saw record breaking rain, with severe flooding only prevented by extensive flood prevention work carried out in recent years.

The more we can do to save energy and cut carbon the better. The food that we eat and the things we buy and throw away also make a large contribution. Our natural environment, including trees, plants and peat bogs in the rural parts of the city area can reduce our carbon emissions.