Bradford Council chief executive Kersten England has been confirmed as one of the speakers at The Yorkshire Post Climate Change Summit in Leeds taking place next month.

Ms England will be among the speakers at a Transport Session sponsored by First Bus.

The discussion on accelerating the journey to net zero travel will also include Garry Birmingham, Programme Director for Decarbonisation Delivery at First Bus, Professor Greg Marsden from University of Leeds and the project lead for DecarboN8 Network and Alexis Krachai from Sheffield Chamber of Commerce.

Last month, it was announced that First Bus had placed one of UK’s largest electric vehicle bus orders with manufacturer Wrightbus.

It followed the firm making successful bids with local authorities to the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (ZEBRA) funding scheme.

The £81m order, totalling 193 buses, is the largest EV bus purchase outside of London.

It will see new zero-emission buses being rolled out across England from March next year – including in Leeds and York.

First Bus is to invest £43m in the new vehicles and will be supported to complete the electric fleet project with a £38m grant from the DfT.

Next month’s summit is being hosted by BBC Look North’s Paul Hudson and is taking place at the Royal Armouries in Leeds on November 15.

It follows a successful inaugural conference last year.

Others due to participate in the event include South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard.

Another sponsor, Eclipse Energy, has also signed up to participate in the event.

Daniel Cawdron, head of marketing for the company, said: “We’re delighted to be attending the 2022 Climate Change Summit, working with groups and organisations across the region to build a green future.

"We believe that Yorkshire can set an example to the rest of the country, leading the way in tackling climate emissions and clean energy generation.”

Eclipse Energy will be sponsoring a session on energy at the conference.

Solar for Schools has been confirmed as one of the bodies represented on this session.

They will be represented 16-year-old Will Solomon, from Calderdale Youth Council who spoke at last year's COP26 summit in Glasgow where he was representing young people from Calderdale and the wider Yorkshire region.

For more information or to book tickets, visit www.yorkshireclimatechange.co.uk.

Bradford Council CEO Kersten England to join speakers at Climate Change Summit