Public Bodies Climate Change Duties Compliance Reporting 2024 - Carbon Emissions
Perth and Kinross Council · 23 October 2024
Back to Climate Change and Sustainability Committee — 23 October 2024 and its agenda
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PERTH AND KINROSS COUNCIL CLIMATE CHANGE AND SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE 23 October 2024 Public Bodies Climate Change Duties Compliance Reporting 2024 – Carbon Emissions Report by Strategic Lead, Environment & Infrastructure (Report No. 24/288) 1. PURPOSE 1.1 This report provides an overview of the Council’s annual Public Sector Climate Change Reporting Duty submission. It includes an update on the Council’s carbon footprint and emissions trends for the reporting year 2023/24 and wider actions the Council is taking to address the Climate Emergency. Based on this evidence, the report to the Scottish Government has been developed for consideration. 2. RECOMMENDATIONS 2.1 It is recommended that the Committee: (i) Notes the contents of the report, along with the updated report to the Scottish Government (Appendix A) a. notes the progress in developing benchmarking information b. notes the intention to use it to provide an evidence-based platform to inform decisions and monitor performance 3. STRUCTURE OF REPORT 3.1 This report is structured over the following sections: • Section 4: Background/Main Issues • Section 5: Conclusion • Appendix A: Public Bodies Climate Change Duties Compliance Report • Appendix B: Perth and Kinross Council briefing note – High Carbon within PKC’s purchased goods and services.
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4. BACKGROUND / MAIN ISSUES 4.1 Perth and Kinross Council, as a listed public body in Schedule 1 of the Climate Change (Duties of Public Bodies; Reporting Requirements) (Scotland) Order 2015 as amended by the Climate Change (Duties of Public Bodies: Reporting Requirements) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2020, is required to report annually via the Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN) Report to the Scottish Government. This is required in order for Perth and Kinross Council to comply with its climate change duties as established under Section 44 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 and as stated in Schedule 2 of the 2015 Order. 4.2 In addition to the above, the 2020 Amendment Order set out additional reporting requirements from 2021/22 in response to the global climate emergency and Scotland’s net zero targets, as well as the interim targets as set out in the legislation. The compliance reports must now address additional sections that include, but are not limited to, the Council’s target date for achieving zero direct emissions, how the Council will align its spending plans and use of resources to deliver its emissions reduction targets, and how the Council will publish its progress to achieving its emissions reductions targets. 4.3 The Council first reported in the pilot year 2014/15. The baseline year however has been set as 2015/16 as per the reporting guidance, as in 2014/15 only Scope 1 and 2 emissions were calculated. A summary of the annual data is presented Table 1. For greater clarity, changes to the reporting envelope have been illustrated below to reflect additional emissions sources that have been added to the Council’s carbon footprint reporting over the years. This includes the addition of employee transport, homeworking, employee commuting emissions and a change in electric vehicle (EV) electricity consumption reporting.
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Table 1 : Perth & Kinross Council’s Carbon Footprint (tCO2e) 4.4 The scopes mentioned in the table above refer to: i. Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by the Council - e.g. emissions from fleet or oil-fired boilers. ii. Scope 2 emissions are from the generation of purchased electricity. iii. Scope 3 emissions are all other indirect emissions which relate to the Council’s activities, including waste, homeworking, staff travel to/from work or emissions associated with electricity which is lost in the Transmission and Distribution system used for delivering purchased electricity. Reporting Year Scope 1 Scope 2 Scope 3 Total Footprint Changes to the reporting envelope 2015/16 (baseline) 9,033 14,676 14,995 38,705 2016/17 8,339 12,661 18,859 39,859 2017/18 8,593 9,967 19,153 37,713 2018/19 10,180 5,314 20,488 35,982 Scope 1: Addition of employee transport 2019/20 10,722 6,823 19,560 37,105 2020/21 10,163 5,106 19,337 34,605 Scope 3: Addition of homeworking emissions 2021/22 10,670 5,217 20,122 36,008 2022/23 9,719 4,730 26,021 40,471 Scope 3: Addition of employee commuting 2023/24 9,441 4,518 13,987 27,946 Scope 2 to Scope 3 – Transfer of EV charging electricity from Scope 2 to Scope 3 following the introduction of charging for electricity consumption
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Figure 2 Perth & Kinross Council’s Carbon Footprint divided by Sector 4.5 In 2023/24, the Council’s carbon footprint decreased by approximately 31% compared to 2022/23. This significant reduction is largely due to changes in waste processing, with smaller reductions in emissions from energy produced on site, business travel, and employee commuting. Figure 1 Perth & Kinross Council’s Carbon Footprint (tCO2e)
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Transport Table 2 : Perth & Kinross Council’s Transport Carbon Footprint (tCO2e) n/a stands for not available due to data unavailability in the reporting year 4.6 Overall, emissions arising from transport (Scopes 1 and 3) have shown a slight reduction (approximately 10%). More specifically, the use of diesel vehicles in the Council’s fleet has decreased while the use of petrol and hybrid fleet cars has increased significantly. This has resulted in a year-on-year 45% emissions reduction from diesel vehicles and a 27% increase from petrol vehicles when compared to 2022/23. The Fleet Team have introduced more hybrid cars to the Council’s fleet which resulted in a 15% emissions increase from hybrid vehicles. The use of personal vehicles for business travel (non- commuting), however, has increased further contributing to an 8% emissions increase. Positively, emissions arising from vans and Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) have shown a slight decrease. This is mostly due to a landfill site location change from Falkirk to Dundee, resulting to decreased mileage for HGVs. 4.7 Emissions associated with employee commuting have fallen by 14% (752 tCO2e) when compared to 2022/23. This is based on a staff travel and homeworking survey undertaken between June 2024 – August 2024 – with 1055 respondents (approximately 20.6% overall staff). The responses were then analysed and scaled up to reflect the full workforce and as a result, it is estimated that Perth and Kinross Council staff emit 4,617 tCO2e annually on their commutes to and from work. The modal split of respondents was: • 74.9% by car • 13.7% by walking and cycling • 8.4% by bus, • 2.7% by train • 0.3% by motorbike. Reporting Year Scope 1 Transport Scope 3 Employee Commuting Total Transport Footprint 2015/16 (baseline) n/a n/a n/a 2016/17 n/a n/a n/a 2017/18 n/a n/a n/a 2018/19 2,607 n/a 2,607 2019/20 2,684 n/a 2,684 2020/21 2,333 n/a 2,333 2021/22 2,589 n/a 2,691 2022/23 2,691 5,369 8,060 2023/24 2,571 4,616 7,187
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This means that 24.8% of employees are using a sustainable travel method and 15.5% of employees are using low carbon travel options (bus, train and EVs). Lastly, according to the survey, it is estimated that Council employees emit approximately 691.9 tCO2e annually from working from home (this figure takes into consideration the office equipment and heating emissions as per the UK Government Greenhouse Gas Conversion Factors for Company Reporting). 4.8 It is important to note that the employee commuting methodology developed has some limitations that impact the ability to accurately monitor year-on-year trends. As the survey results represent only a sample of PKC employees (20.6%) and there is not a mechanism to compare changes to individual employee behaviours, when extrapolating up to the full workforce’s footprint, response bias can be introduced. This is because not all employees have the same working pattern, site locations, vehicle types, travel behaviours or other variables that influence their emissions. In 2022/23 the response rate was higher at 33.3%, which means that the commuting patterns of more employees were captured. The decrease in carbon emissions may therefore be attributed to the quality of data analysed rather than be seen as an improvement. Nevertheless, the methodology allows the calculation of a best estimated figure of employee commuting. There is currently no uniform approach in estimating employee commuting emissions across Scotland, but it is something that is being considered by the SSN. Despite the uncertainties described, however, the inclusion of this data facilitates a better understanding of the Council’s carbon footprint. Energy Table 3 : Perth & Kinross Council’s Transport Carbon Footprint (tCO2e) Reporting Year Scope 1 Energy Scope 2 (Purchased Energy) Scope 3 Energy (T&D and water) Scope 3 Energy Sold at public EV Chargers Scope 3 Homeworking emissions Total Energy Footprint 2015/16 (baseline) 9,033 14,676 1384 n/a n/a 25,093 2016/17 8,339 12,661 1333 n/a n/a 22,333 2017/18 8,593 9,967 1101 n/a n/a 19,661 2018/19 7,573 5,314 638 n/a n/a 13,525 2019/20 8,038 6,823 773 n/a n/a 15,634 2020/21 7,830 5,106 489 n/a n/a 13,425 2021/22 8,081 5,217 506 n/a 178 13,982 2022/23 7,028 4,730 472 n/a 786 13,016 2023/24 6,871 4,517 431 248 692 12,759
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4.9 With regards to emissions arising from energy (Scopes 1, 2, and 3) across the Council’s estate portfolio, they have decreased when compared to 2022/23. More specifically, natural gas and gas oil consumption (Scope 1) has reduced by 2% and 11% respectively. Scope 3 emissions from water supply have also shown a reduction (3%) while emissions from water treatment have increased by approximately 5%. In relation to Scope 1 emissions arising from the use of wood chips and burning oil (kerosene), they increased by 40.6% and 28.9% respectively. The biomass woodchip consumption was higher in 2023/24 due to the boiler at Breadalbane Community Campus (dual fuel using both biomass and gas) being back online whilst it had been offline in 2022/23. This caused an increase in biomass and a decrease in gas for 2023/24. Burning oil has increased as Arngask Primary School heating was converted from gas oil to kerosene in 2023/24. 4.10 For Scope 2 (Purchased Energy) there has been a change in usage of 2,644,806 kWh (kilowatt hour) within Council operations when compared to the 2022/23 figures. This is mainly due to a change in the reporting of emissions arising from public EV charging. The Council introduced charges for electricity usage from April 2023 onwards, as opposed to EV vehicle owners using the chargers free of charge. These emissions had previously been reported under Scope 2 due to the Council paying for this usage. From this reporting year, however, these will now be reported under Scope 3 in line with the Protocol for Greenhouse Gas Reporting, as illustrated in the table above. The actual kWh reduction across the Council’s electricity consumption, taking into account the changes in Scopes, is therefore closer to 1,500,000kWh. For scale, this electricity reduction equates to three times the annual electricity consumption of Pullar House. This reduction is mostly attributed to reduced usage of EV chargers due to the new charges Also, a large number of EV chargers had been offline throughout 2023/24 due to maintenance issues, further contributing to reduced usage. It is worth noting that excluding the electricity consumption from EV chargers, the Council’s electricity consumption has reduced by 464,348 kWh. Waste 4.11 In August 2023, Perth and Kinross Council committed to a long-term residual waste contract for Energy from Waste (incineration) rather than landfilling of residual waste. While only a partial year, this led to a dramatic decrease in year-on-year emissions from Landfill of 11,868 tCO2e (64.5%). This more than offsets the small emissions increase of 400 tCO2e attributed to the increased levels of incineration of waste. Furthermore, Twin Stream recycling was rolled out in January 2024 with the introduction of a new grey-lidded bin to improve recycling rates across Perth and Kinross. By encouraging residents to separate their waste and reducing bin contamination rates, recycling rates increased significantly (48% for plastics, paper and board), further diverting waste away from landfill and contributed to the emissions reduction mentioned above.
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Purchased goods and services 4.12 In November 2023, the Climate Change and Sustainability Committee requested officers to circulate a briefing note on high carbon within PKC’s purchased goods and services (Report No. 23/329). The briefing note has been attached as an appendix to this Report – Appendix B. The note outlines the outputs of the analysis carried out by a consultant (CO2Analysis) on the Council’s procurement and finance spend data. The outputs of the report include recommendations and actions that could reduce the Council’s carbon footprint such as engaging with our top 10 suppliers and internal departments/cost centres. 4.13 It is crucial to note that the analysis was a one-off procedure that took place to provide a better understanding of the Council’s emissions arising from purchased goods and services. The estimated emissions have not been included in the PBCCDR this reporting year due to the data analysed referring to 2022/23. It was decided not to commission a re-run of the data on 2023/24 data due to data gaps and lack of granularity in certain aspects of the data and the fact that there is currently no statutory requirement for the Council to report on its purchased goods and services emissions. However, it is under consideration to be added to the public bodies’ climate change duty compliance reporting in the future as per the SSN guidance. 4.14 Overall, although there is a decreasing trend in emissions when compared to the emissions sources reported in 2022/23, this would need to be accelerated in order to reach the objectives set out in the Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (Report No. 21/245 refers). 5. CONCLUSION 5.1 Perth and Kinross Council’s carbon footprint in 2023/24 has decreased year on year. However, the change in waste operations in August 2023 is the main contributor to the significant decrease in Scope 3 emissions while transport, energy and employee commuting emissions show little progress. 5.2 In achieving Perth and Kinross Council’s climate objectives, the emissions reductions trend to date is not sufficient to achieve the targets related to the Council operations and functions as set out in the Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan. 5.3 Working towards achieving the targets, via the activities outlined in the Action Plan should remain a key priority for Perth and Kinross Council in order to accelerate the decrease in emissions trends and comply with the net zero and interim targets as set out in the legislation.
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Author Name Designation Contact Details Eirini Kourtesi Climate Change and Sustainable Development Officer 01738 475000 EPLCommitteeReports@pkc.gov.uk Approved Name Designation Date Fraser Crofts Strategic Lead, Environment & Infrastructure 8 October 2024 APPENDICES • Appendix A – Public Bodies Climate Change Duty Report 2023/24 Submission • Appendix B – Perth and Kinross Council briefing note – High Carbon within PKC’s purchased goods and services
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ANNEX 1. IMPLICATIONS, ASSESSMENTS, CONSULTATION AND COMMUNICATION Strategic Implications Yes / None Community Plan / Single Outcome Agreement Y Corporate Plan Y Resource Implications Financial N Workforce N Asset Management (land, property, IST) N Assessments Climate Change Assessment Y Strategic Environmental Assessment N Sustainable Procurement & Supply Assessment N Equality & Fairness Assessment N Child Rights & Wellbeing Assessment N Consultation Internal Y External N Communication Communications Plan N 1. Strategic Implications Community Plan/Single Outcome Agreement 1.1 The activities detailed in the report supports the delivery of Perth and Kinross Community Plan/Single Outcome Agreement in terms of the following priorities: (i) Reducing poverty (ii) Physical and Mental Wellbeing (iii) Digital Participation (iv) Learning and Development (v) Employability 1.2 This report relates to (i) Reducing poverty.
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Corporate Plan 1.3 The activities detailed in the report supports the achievement of the Council’s Corporate Plan Priorities: (i) Tackling poverty (ii) Tackling climate change and supporting sustainable places (iii) Developing a resilient, stronger and greener local economy (iv) Enabling our children and young people to achieve their full potential (v) Protecting and caring for our most vulnerable people (vi) Supporting and promoting physical and mental wellbeing (vii) Working in partnership with communities 1.4 This report relates to (i) Tackling poverty, (ii) Tackling climate change and supporting sustainable places and (iii) Developing a resilient, stronger and greener local economy. 2. Resource Implications Financial 2.1 There are no financial implications arising from the recommendations in the report. Workforce 2.2 There are no workforce implications arising from the recommendations in the report. Asset Management (land, property, IT) 2.3 There are no asset management implications arising from the recommendations in the report. 3. Assessments Climate change Assessment 3.1 Under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, Perth & Kinross Council has a statutory duty to report on its carbon emissions. This report has no further climate change implications other than those already associated with the existing Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan. Equality & Fairness Assessment 3.2 Under the Equality Act 2010, the Council is required to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between equality groups. Carrying out Equality Impact Assessments for plans and policies allows the Council to demonstrate that it is meeting these duties.
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3.3 The information contained within this report has been considered under the Corporate Equalities Impact Assessment Process (EqIA) and has been assessed as not relevant for the purposes of EqIA. Strategic Environmental Assessment 3.4 The Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 places a duty on the Council to identify and assess the environmental consequences of its proposals. 3.5 The proposals have been considered under the Act and no action is required as the Act does not apply to the matters presented in this report. This is because the Committee are requested to note the contents of the report only and the Committee are not being requested to approve, adopt or agree to an action or to set the framework for future decisions. Sustainable Procurement & Supply Assessment 3.6 Under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, the Council has a duty to consider sustainable procurement as part of its procurement process. The Council is required to consider how in conducting the procurement process it can – (i) improve the economic, social, and environmental wellbeing of the authority’s area, (ii) facilitate the involvement of small and medium enterprises, third sector bodies and supported businesses in the process, and (iii) promote innovation. 3.7 The report does not have any impacts on sustainable procurement and supply. Child Rights & Wellbeing Assessment 3.8 The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was ratified by the UK Government in 1991. It sets out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that all children, everywhere, are entitled to and is regarded as the global “gold standard” for children’s rights. Screening for Child Rights and Wellbeing Impacts, alongside the Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) wellbeing indicators ensures that Council policies protect and promote the rights and wellbeing of children and young people. This proposal was considered under the Council’s Impact and Value Assessment. No impacts on Child Rights and Wellbeing were identified. Legal and Governance 3.9 The Strategic Lead, Legal and Governance has been consulted.
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4. Consultation Internal 4.1 There has been no other internal consultation. 2. BACKGROUND PAPERS 2.1 No background papers, as defined by Section 50D of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (other than any containing confidential or exempt information) were relied on to a material extent in preparing the above report.