The Move to Net Zero in the North-East

Due to growing concerns over rising greenhouse gas emissions and the expanding effects of the climate crisis, the UK has set legally binding goals to reach net-zero by 2050. It is the first major economy to enter a legally binding contract of this matter. To ensure continual progress towards the end net-zero goals, carbon budgets (goals to limit greenhouse gas emission in a period of usually around 5 years) have been set out. The UK has achieved all three of the carbon budget targets set out so far.  

Within this move to net zero, the region said to have been leading the way is the North-East, historically the most industrial area. This is partly due to the goals set out by the Net Zero North East Initiative to decarbonise the North-East and increase sustainability efforts within the region. The North Tyneside region is currently leading the way within the North-East due to collaborations with Newcastle University and continuing sustainability policies. Between 2005 and 2021, greenhouse gas emissions within the North-East fell by 54% in contrast to national emissions reductions of 43% across the same timeframe. In addition, emissions in the North-East fell by 10% between 2019 and 2022.  

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Since the construction of the large Nissan factory in Sunderland in 1984, the North-East has pioneered in the development of low carbon vehicles, beginning with the development of the Nissan Leaf, which triggered investments into battery development and charging infrastructure. This sector will continue to grow within the North-East as Nissan has confirmed up to a £3 billion investment into 3 gigafactories within the Sunderland area to aid their goal of their passenger car line up being fully electric by 2030. They have confirmed their Sunderland factory will lead the way in the development and construction of the all-electric Nissan Juke, Qashqai and new-generation Leaf.

Within the North-East transport plan set out between 2021-2035, the region aims to improve and integrate public transport to incentivise greater use and lower emissions, facilitating the decarbonisation of the transport sector, which currently account for 29% of UK greenhouse gas emissions. This has included the removal of diesel trains and the restoration and opening of historic train routes, such as the Northumbria line, reopening access to Blythe and Ashington, which allows easier and low carbon travel from those areas. Furthermore, the addition of a new and more efficient metro fleet further incentivises sustainable transport systems. To facilitate increased bus travel, improvements have also been made to Durham and Sunderland bus stations, pending the arrival of further zero emission buses should the current level-up bid made by the North-East councils be successful.  

To achieve net-zero and clean energy goals, the region is heavily investing in offshore wind development and has continuously led the way in the offshore wind industry since the 2000s. Some of the large wind farms include the Teesside, Blythe and Dogger Bank wind farms. Currently, enough power is generated across the North-sea wind farms to power 1.2 million UK homes annually, this is set to grow however, due to expansion of the Sofia Offshore windfarm and the Dogger Bank wind farms.

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As a result of a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project launched by the Northeast Endurance partnership, the region is currently set to also lead the nation in CCS, which appears to be one of the key drivers to achieve net zero. The proposed East Coast Cluster project, located within Teesside which will initially serve 3 CCS projects based within Teesside, storing CO₂ within the Endurance Reservoir located 145km offshore. Construction for the project is expected to begin this year and initially store upwards of 4 million tonnes of CO₂ annually. Future expansion of the project into the Humber region could see the project store upwards of 23 million tonnes of CO₂ per year.  

Despite the recent successes of the North-East region in its move towards net-zero emissions, the region is still facing some challenges. The main challenge is continued increases in car use and subsequently fuel consumption, mirroring similar trends in other areas of the country. In addition, due to the presence of several different bus/travel companies, transport is not fully integrated, and many rural areas still suffer from a lack of or infrequent public transport.  Poor air quality and pollution due to past industrial activity is also still a large problem and is said to be a cause in over 360 deaths yearly in the central Tyneside area alone. However, the North-east is nonetheless a promising and inspirational case of emissions reductions and actions that can be undertaken to facilitate this.