October 2021
Report of the Assistant Director of Policy and Strategy

City of York Carbon Emissions Inventory Reporting

Summary

1. This report presents the Emissions Inventory for the city of York. This data will be used to monitor progress against the City of York Council ambition to achieve net zero carbon emissions for the city by 2030.

2. The emissions inventory was compiled using SCATTER; a tool designed for local authorities to report emissions.

3. Emissions across the city for the latest reporting year 2018 were 936kilotonnes Carbon Dioxide equivalent (ktCO₂e) (Scope 1 and 2).

4. City-wide emissions have reduced by 1.6% (Scope 1 and 2) between 2017 and 2018.

5. City of York Council Corporate emissions account for roughly 4% of city-wide emissions.

6. The focus of our reporting is Scope 1 and 2 emissions. The reason for this is that scope 1 and 2 emissions are more directly under the control of actors within the city, and because the carbon accounting and management options for these emissions are better developed.[1]

Background

7. In July 2021, the Executive Member for Environment and Climate Change approved the use of the SCATTER tool for reporting city-wide greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions.

8. The decision was accompanied with the first York Emissions Report Inventory (2020) relating the 2017 reporting year.

9. This report presents the latest York Emissions Report Inventory (2021) for the reporting year 2018.

10. Scope 1 and 2 emissions in York for 2018 were 936ktCO₂e. The make-up of these emissions is shown below.

11. The built environment accounts for over 60% of emissions in York. With almost 32% coming from dwellings and 30% from other buildings. The majority of emissions from buildings are associated with gas consumption used for space heating and hot water.

12. Emissions from transport is another significant contributor (27.9%), with on-road transport responsible for most of these emissions. 

13. A more detailed breakdown of emissions by sub-sector is presented in the Inventory Summary Report (Annex A)

14. The Council’s own Scope 1 and 2 Corporate Emissions have been recorded and reported for the first time in 2021. Council corporate emissions account for less than 4% of the city-wide inventory (3,635tCO₂e).

15. The York Emissions Inventory and SCATTER Pathway Tool are being used to support the evidence base for the York Climate Change Strategy.

Council Plan

16. The recommendation from this paper fulfils one of the commitments from the Council Plan: Providing data of carbon emissions across the city. This monitors progress against the Greener and Cleaner Council Plan priority.

Implications

17. Full implications are considered below:

· Financial – no financial implications have been identified

· Human Resources (HR) – no HR implications have been identified

· Equalities – no equalities implications have been identified   

· Legal – no legal implications have been identified

· Crime and Disorder – no crime and disorder implications have been identified

· Information Technology (IT) – the majority of information being recorded is already captured in some format. Some of this information is reported through the York Open Data Platform. Consolidating this data into one place will make it easier for the public to access, increase transparency and collaborative working.

· Property – no property implications have been identified

Risk Management

18. The following risks have been identified:

· Transparency: Wider emissions reporting refers in the main to city partner activity.  Partners will use their own methodology to measure their own impact and there might be occasions when data is not aligned.  City partners will work together to present a shared narrative about data as it’s published.

· Time: with a 2.5year time lag for the data, it will be some time before the impact of policies is really understood. This brings a risk that inadvertent and negative impacts aren’t acted on quickly enough.  To mitigate this risk the council will work with city partners, and draw on available evidence to better understand impact until the accurate data is available

Contact Details

Author: Shaun Gibbons	Officer Responsible for the report:
Head of Carbon Reduction Policy, Intelligence, Carbon and Communications 07923 222971	Claire Foale Assistant Director Policy & Strategy
	Report Approved	X	Date	01/10/2021
Wards Affected:  [List wards or tick box to indicate all]					All	x
For further information please contact the author of the report

Background Papers:

EMDS_Emissions Reporting_July 2021

Net Zero Carbon Roadmap for York (2020)  

Annexes

SCATTER York Summary 2021

SCATTER York Inventory 2021

Net total: 

936 ktCO2e

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[1] Zero Carbon Roadmap for York (2020), Leeds University