Suffolk's first ever full carbon budget published in bid to reach net-zero by 2030
Unlike a financial budget, it aims to measure and report existing emissions, set as targets for reductions and monitor progress
As part of their efforts to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, Suffolk County Council has announced its plans for a full carbon budget that will chart their journey towards achieving the ambition.
The plans published will be presented at a cabinet meeting on 1st February and then discussed at the Full Council meeting on 17th February, alongside the financial budget proposals. Councillor Richard Rout is their cabinet member for finance and the environment
He explains, "Carbon Budgets are essentially a set of data that identifies all of our emissions, our footprint, and then the reduction pathway to reach our really ambitious target of being. Net-Zero by 2030."
It will collate the total emissions caused by the council's daily work, including lighting and heating in their buildings, mileage of company cars and emissions that are caused by suppliers or contractors who work with the council. This information will be detailed alongside their desired carbon reduction targets and the progress they are likely to achieve with current measures.
Councillor Rout says, "By publishing it at this time of year, alongside the financial budget, we're giving it that parity of importance if you like and that added sense of accountability is really important as well.
"We've made this ambitious target to be net-zero by 2030 and it's only right and proper that each year we publish a budget like this show them how close we are to getting there."
The total volume of greenhouse gases emitted as a product of the council's daily working was 17,742 tonnes during 2020/21. They are hoping that measures such as the £12.8m investment into decarbonising their buildings and the shift to using only renewable energy in their estate this year will help bring that figure down.
Councillor Rout says, "Things look positive in the medium term, but beyond that and towards 2030, there's more work to be done. We need to come up with bolder plans and understand what new technologies might be coming forward and what other investment may be needed.
"At this point next year, I hope that we're on track as as we predict, and I hope that our plans for beyond 2025 become a bit more defined so that we can make sure we're truly on that trajectory to net-zero."
He also adds that the investment, although seemingly large now, will deliver returns in the long-term. " I would liken it to to making an energy improvements to your own home. There's a bit of money you need to spend, may maybe on LED light bulbs or on changing your heating system, for example, but over time those savings bring year-on-year savings.
"An example is our rollout of LED street lighting. We've had to put out a capital outlay there, but that will deliver savings of 1.7 million a year and a 76% reduction in energy use. So a lot of what we're doing is being done on a spend to save basis."
When asked whether help from the tax-payer will be needed to fund these plans, much like with the social care precept, he says no.
" We've demonstrated in the financial budget that we're taking to cabinet next week that we are a financially prudent authority that can deliver on its priorities whilst not necessarily always taking the the maximum Council tax rise that's available to us.
"There is of course a need for balance. This (net-zero ambition) will require investment, but our financial budget will look to increase our ability to to borrow for capital investment like this.
"So what whether or not a 'carbon budget precept' comes in or anything like that is a decision for Westminster. But I think we've demonstrated here in Suffolk that we're able to deliver on our priorities within the financial parameters that that we currently have."
He is hoping that the council's decision to publish a carbon budget encourages other councils and businesses in Suffolk to follow suit. " I want the the Council to show show leadership and inspire others as we all looked looked to to to work together to safeguard our environment and and reach net zero.
"In Suffolk we are fortunate that we have some excellent businesses who have long been at the forefront of the environmental agenda, so I think we as a County Council can can learn from them and hopefully we can inspire them by by setting this current budget ourselves."