Reducing the council's emissions

We are committed to reducing our own carbon emissions (which are sometimes known as greenhouse gas emissions) as quickly as possible, and ultimately become a 'net zero' carbon emitting organisation by 2040.

We will achieve this by understanding what carbon we are currently emitting, and trying to reduce or eliminate those emissions as quickly as possible.  

The council's carbon emissions  

Since 2018/19, we have carefully monitored all available data and tried to work out how much carbon emissions the council is directly responsible for. This is sometimes known as working out our 'carbon footprint'. We've done this using internationally recognised reporting tools, so that we are as accurate and transparent as possible.

As 2018/19 was the first year we calculated our total known emissions, this is our baseline year against which we can report progress.  

For 2018/19, we calculated that our total known emissions were 1,317 tCO2e (which stands for '1,317 tonnes of carbon dioxide or equivalent carbon dioxide').

Each year since, our emissions have been broadly similar or slightly down on our baseline year. Our latest data shows that in 2022/23, our emissions were calculated as being 1,282 tCO2e.

Direct emissions

We've learnt that the vast majority of our total emissions, approximately 80%, arise from the fuel we use in our council vehicles, especially our refuse collection vehicles that collect your weekly rubbish and recycling.

In 2024 we are making a special effort to tackle our vehicle emissions by using hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel. HVO fuel has a much lower carbon footprint, though it is recognised that it is only an interim solution due to the potential sustainability concerns of widespread global use of HVO fuel.  

In the medium term, we will look to use a fuel with both low emissions and the least sustainability concerns. This might be electric vehicles or by using an alternative fuel such as hydrogen.

Our direct emissions are known internationally as Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.

Indirect emissions

We've also learnt that as well as our direct emissions, such as from the fuel and electricity we use, we are also responsible for indirect emissions, such as the emissions arising from manufacturing things that we buy and use, such as paper.  

Indirect emissions are very hard to calculate, though we are trying to understand and calculate those emissions better every year.  

Our indirect emissions are known internationally as Scope 3 emissions.

Our targets  

In 2019, we set ourselves the target of trying to see if it was possible to eliminate our net emissions, often known as being 'net-zero,’ by 2050.  

In 2021, we brought that date forward to 2040, and also set a series of interim targets for each five years.

Our latest targets, as agreed in June 2024, are as follows.

To reduce our direct emissions (scope 1 and 2 emissions):

• by 50% in 2025/26 (compared with 2018/19)
• by 80% in 2030/31
• to net zero by 2036

To reduce our indirect emissions (scope 3 emissions):

• to net zero by 2040  

The UK government has set in law via the Climate Change Act 2008 a national legally binding requirement of becoming net zero by 2050.  

If you want a detailed breakdown of our carbon emissions, please see our latest monitoring report on our completed actions page. 

How we are reducing the council's emissions  

To reduce, and eventually eliminate our emissions, we will have to:

• reduce emissions arising from the vehicles we use. We've made progress on this by making our waste collection rounds more efficient and started to use HVO fuel
• reduce the energy we use in our buildings and move away from gas and oil as a fuel. We've made progress on this by improving the energy efficiency of our main council office at The Grange
• produce our own renewable energy. We have made progress on this by installing PV solar panels at our E-Space North office building in Littleport
• make sure we purchase goods and services from suppliers who offer low-emission products, and only purchase what we need. We have made progress on this by significantly reducing the amount of paper we use