Sheffield Labour councillors have delivered a new Green Investment Fund.
The fund will be worth an extra £3m per year for green projects and will help leverage in bigger external grants, to help fund Sheffield’s transition to net zero.
Sheffield Labour Councillors led the charge to declare a Climate Emergency in Sheffield and set a target for the city to be zero carbon by 2030. Since then, the council has designed recommended pathways for each committee to achieve that target.
A new Green Investment Fund was approved by a majority of councillors when the Council’s Budget was set last week. The proposal was made by Cllr Ruth Milsom, and though a majority of councillors supported it the Liberal Democrats voted against it.
Labour is committed to ensuring every pound of council money is spent wisely. The new Green Investment funding became available following a decision by the Waste and Street Scene Committee not to progress with a Food Waste Collection. This decision was made as the Committee found the carbon reduction impact would have been negligible, and the cost to deliver very high.
Instead Labour councillors argued that that the money should be allocated to create a new Green Investment Fund to help to unlock bigger investment to support our decarbonisation projects, such as community energy schemes, the purchasing of electric buses, or the expansion of Heat Networks.
Cllr Ruth Milsom, Labour Councillor for Crookes and Crosspool ward said;
“I’m delighted my proposal for a new Green Investment Fund was accepted by a majority of councillors. Whilst Food Waste schemes can be effective it is clear that in Sheffield this would have been a terrible waste of money and ineffective in addressing the climate emergency, and these funds can be much better spent.
“As such we proposed that the money was reallocated to create a new Green Investment Fund.
“This will help us to pump-prime carbon reduction projects and unlock bigger investment to help tackle the climate emergency and get to Net Zero.
“Expanding purchasing power to increase additional investment will also help create high skill jobs for local businesses and residents.
“Ultimately the Green Investment Fund is about people – it will release the potential of Sheffield’s makers, creators and innovators to deliver our net zero city.
Cllr Ben Miskell, Chair of the Transport, Regeneration and Climate said:
“Since declaring a climate emergency in 2019 we have put Climate at the heart of decision making, and have made progress designing our carbon routemaps. But we recognise more needs to be done. And faster.
“Since 2010 government have taken a sledgehammer to council funding, and we are looking for ways to deliver more with less. Our Green Investment Fund will deliver better value for every pound spent.
“The Green Investment Fund will be an important tool for the council in enabling the transformational shift to decarbonise homes, buildings, transport networks and energy systems.
“It demonstrates clear leadership to build the necessary market confidence and develop a strong low carbon supply chain, creating skilled jobs and a stronger local economy”.