GALBA

A Green New Deal for Leeds City Region

GALBA’s Vision for a Sustainable Local Economy

 

We are pleased to announce our new report: A Green New Deal for Leeds City Region: GALBA's Vision for a Sustainable Local Economy.

 

Our starting point for this report is to accept four facts:

1. the climate crisis is a real and present danger

2. to prevent its worst effects, we must cut emissions in half by 2030

3. there is no realistic prospect of cutting aviation emissions in half by 2030

4. people need secure and meaningful work

 

So we must - and we can - change our local economy to create a safer future for everyone. Expanding aviation is the wrong way forward. There is a better way.

 

Our vision is for a forward-looking, ambitious and achievable economy that reduces reliance on aviation (and other high carbon industries) and encourages investment in our local communities, while also addressing other key challenges around transport, energy supply and housing. The research behind this report suggests that nearly 16,000 long term jobs could be created in Leeds City Region by pursuing such an investment strategy, with nearly double that number in the transition phase.

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This report also sets out our concerns about the claims made by Leeds Bradford Airport around job creation, which do not properly take into account:

• the pandemic impact

• the effect of increasing automation

• the experience of other airport expansions where job creation was vastly over-exaggerated

 

LBA’s planning proposals would increase emissions to 1,227kt CO2e per year. That’s larger than the entire carbon budget for the whole of the district of Leeds from 2030 onwards, while delivering, at best, less than 1,500 direct new jobs.

 

Chris Foren, chair of GALBA, says: “We don’t pretend to have all the answers. But we do know the government should address the regressive taxation system that gives tax breaks to aviation. On a per passenger basis, this is worth £94 million to LBA every year - but overwhelmingly benefits better-off frequent flyers. Yorkshire urgently needs an investment strategy that helps ordinary people make the transition to good, secure jobs that tackle the climate emergency, rather than make it worse. Our generation has seen the emergence of a human-created climate emergency. We must also be the generation to fix this, by making best use of our most precious resource – our people.”

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You can download the full report which sets out our greener vision and an Exec Summary at the start. You can watch a recording of our event to launch the report here.