WSP was the consultant for West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) on their first five-year net zero plan (2021-2026) as part of their strategy to be net zero by 2041. We helped set a trajectory for, and method to achieve a 33% carbon emissions reduction by 2026, setting out delivery plans for £4.3bn of investment and the creation of 21,000 green jobs in the same period. The plan includes a target for 35% of people to tele-commute 50% of the time by 2041, a target for cycling to make up 10% of all trips by the mid-2030s and 100% electric taxis by 2031. We also helped them accommodate plans to attract new private investment to reach their target including attracting a manufacturer for a giga factory to support local EV delivery.

Helping West Midlands Combined Authority deliver net zero by 2041

A strategic carbon review for Somerset County Council (SCC)  

Tackling transport decarbonisation requires an understanding of carbon impacts across the breadth of current and planned highways and transportation programmes. For this purpose WSP are applying the Carbon Zero Appraisal Framework with Somerset County Council as a proportionate means to identify impacts, risks and opportunities. This provides a basis for identifying where improvements can be made within governance and design processes and how investment contributes to net zero pathways. This is expected to lead to future activities being shaped by an improved understanding of carbon impacts for comprehensive action to reduce emissions. 

A net zero heath check for Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM)  

Without transport decarbonisation, Manchester will not meet their 2038 Net Zero ambitions. Using the Government’s guidance from the Infrastructure & Projects Authority for improving Project and Programme Initiation, we worked with the TfGM Extended Leadership Team to undertake a Organisational Health Check and identify a route map to understand the scale and pace of organisational change required to meet this challenge. Building on the strong foundations TfGM already have in place, the strategy provides a series of priority recommendations to support TfGM in providing the leadership across Greater Manchester that is required to decarbonise the transport network across all modes. 

Development partner to West Yorkshire Combined Authority  

As development partner to the £137m Transforming Cities Fund programme in the Leeds City Region, WSP applied our Carbon Zero Appraisal Framework from the earliest stages of concept design to understand carbon impacts, inform design decisions and report the whole-life carbon impact of schemes to strengthen their business cases. At a programme level we helped our client embed reporting of carbon impacts using metrics such as a Carbon Cost Ratio into a ‘programme health check’ and supported the city districts in applying for funding for carbon mitigation measures. This has supported a carbon culture within the programme to maximise the carbon reduction that can be achieved with this funding opportunity.