Suffolk council cuts carbon emissions by 15% in three years
It's part of their mission to reach net zero by 2030
Carbon emissions from Suffolk County Council’s operations have dropped by 15 per cent since 2019.
The council’s carbon budget shows a reduction from 25,533 tonnes to 21,543 tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted between 2019 and 2022.
These figures only represent about ten percent of the total carbon release contributed to by the council, as the impact from products and services purchased is difficult to determine.
The carbon budget was approved unanimously by the cabinet yesterday. It sets out carbon emission levels, alongside how they have been and will be reduced by the council.
Cllr Richard Rout, cabinet member for finance and the environment who brought the budget to councillors, said: “The creation and publication of a carbon budget is a critical element in our commitment to tackling the climate emergency.
“It plays a key role in understanding the impact of our current planned activity and planning long term to reduce emissions further.
“The council’s approach to reaching net zero by 2030 is to reduce emissions from all sources before looking to offset them by removing and storing carbon.
“We are making changes. Since 2020, we have seen a 15 per cent reduction in recorded emissions.”
“It is important to recognise that this carbon budget only covers emissions related to the services delivered by the county council, which is estimated to be about one percent of the total emissions in Suffolk.
“The council is working with partners to deliver a Suffolk Climate Emergency Plan that facilitates further action in communities, businesses and households to reduce emissions across our county.”
According to the officers’ report, the main factor contributing to the 15 per cent shift was the transition to homeworking, which resulted in ten per cent reduction in emissions.
The installation of more efficient street lights resulted in the next highest reduction, at 3.25 per cent.
A reduction in the UK grid electricity’s emissions contributed a 1.5 per cent reduction, leaving just 0.75 per cent to be made up by other means.
Labour Cllr Sandy Martin said: “I very much welcome this carbon budget and the Labour group would agree with virtually everything that’s in it.
“I think it would be valuable in the future to try to get more data on those emissions we can’t currently measure very well – from the supply chain of products and services purchased.
“But we need to make a balance between what’s easily measurable and what would take up too much officer time to discover.”
Cllr Rout explained that more clarity around data from supply chains will come in future as the council continues to support the organisations it works with to improve and report emissions.
The report stated the council has started to reward businesses’ environmental achievements through carbon charter accreditation, which has been given to 470 companies. This allows them to use the carbon charter logo when marketing.
Of the £12.8 million climate emergency property investment strategy funding approved by the council’s cabinet in 2021 for the period up to 2030, £700,000 has been spent.
Projects carried out with this money include the installation of solar panels and systems to optimise energy use by controlling heating and cooling.
This has reduced carbon emissions in the council’s estate by 531 tonnes and will return a benefit to the council of £250,000 per year.
The future works laid out in the report include thermal insulation improvements for buildings, de-stratification fans, heat pumps and hybrid boilers.