Climate change
The Council's carbon footprint
As part of the Council's plan to become carbon neutral by 2030, we aim to regularly report on our progress towards our targets.
Below is our targets for 2023, 2025 and 2030.
| Year | Total tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 12,855 |
| 2025 | 8,570 |
| 2030 | 0 |
Carbon Neutrality and Net Zero
Carbon Neutrality and Net Zero are very similar, but organisations tend to report on them slightly differently.
In the case of the Council's emission targets, Carbon Neutrality refers to directly produced carbon dioxide (the main greenhouse gas). This means carbon dioxide produced by us burning a fuel such as oil, gas, or petrol.
It also includes carbon dioxide produced by us indirectly, meaning electricity that's produced in power stations, but used by us.
These emissions are known as Scope 1 and Scope 2 respectively.
The Council's Net Zero target is broader. It captures all types of greenhouse gases (measured in carbon dioxide equivalent or CO2e) and includes both emissions mentioned above as well as emissions out of the Council's control. This includes emissions from the goods and services we procure, employee commuting, waste disposal, and investments. These emissions are known as Scope 3.
For the government's Net Zero policy, you can visit the gov.uk website.
Our yearly reductions
| Financial year | Total tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions | Reduction since 2018 | Reduction since previous year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 - 2019 | 17,140 | N/A | N/A |
| 2019 - 2020 | 16,392 | 4% | 4% |
| 2020 - 2021 | 14,322 | 16% | 13% |
| 2021 - 2022 | 14,324 | 16% | 0% |
| 2022 - 2023 | 11,970 | 30% | 16% |
| Source of carbon dioxide | Total tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions |
|---|---|
| Gas | 7,458 |
| Electricity | 2,883 |
| Fleet | 1,629 |
