13 December 2022

Climate Emergency Policy and Scrutiny Committee

29 June 2021

Report of the Head of Carbon Reduction

Portfolio of the Executive Member for Environment and Climate Change

Report of the Head of Carbon Reduction

Portfolio of the Executive Member for Environment and Climate Change

York Emissions Inventory Report 2022

Summary

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

2. The emissions inventory was compiled using SCATTER[1]; a tool designed for, and widely used by, local authorities to report emissions.

3. Emissions across the city for 2019 (the latest reporting year) were 912kilotonnes Carbon Dioxide equivalent (ktCO₂e). This covers Scope 1 and 2 (direct) emissions, representing a reduction of 2.6% from 2018.

4. The built environment and transport sector account for over 90% of our direct local emissions. The council is responsible for around 4% of city-wide emissions.

5. While the focus of our inventory reporting is Scope 1 and 2 emissions, as these fall directly under the control of actors within the city, we are exploring improved carbon accounting and management options to include scope 3 (indirect) emissions in the future.

Recommendations

6. Scrutiny Committee is asked to:

i. Review the content of this report and provide any recommendations to the Executive Member for Environment and Climate Change

Reason

To support the accelerated delivery of decarbonisation to achieve the council ambition for York to be net zero by 2030.

Background

7. SCATTER (Setting City Area Targets and Trajectories for Emissions Reduction) is a local authority focussed emissions tool developed by Anthesis, Nottingham City Council and The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research using funding from The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

8. SCATTER standardises greenhouse gas reporting and aligns to international frameworks, including the setting of targets in line with the Paris Climate Agreement. It is also compliant with the reporting standards of The Global Covenant of Mayors’ Common Reporting Framework (CRF) and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).

9. The methodology[2] is based on the Accounting and Reporting Standard developed by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories. Greenhouse Gas Protocol Guidance.

10. This report presents the latest York Emissions Report Inventory (2022) for the reporting year 2019. Previous reports are available from the council website[3].

York’s City-Wide Emissions

11. Scope 1 and 2 emissions in York for 2019 were 912ktCO₂e.

Fig 1: York’s city-wide emissions profile in 2019 as modelled by SCATTER inventory tool.

12. The built environment accounts for just over 60% of emissions in York across both domestic and non-domestic. The proportion of emissions from homes has increased since 2018 to, while the share of emissions from other buildings has seen a slight reduction. Most emissions from buildings are associated with gas consumption used for space heating and hot water.

13. Emissions from transport is another significant contributor, with on-road transport responsible for most of these emissions. The percentage of emissions from transport has increased since 2018.

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

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

16. The council published an Action Update of measures to reduce city-wide carbon emissions in May 2022.[4]

Council Plan

17. 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

· 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

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 is published.

· Time: with a 2.5 year 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 are not 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	Chief Officer Responsible for the report:
Head of Carbon Reduction Policy, Intelligence, Carbon and Communications 07923 222971	Claire Foale Assistant Director Policy & Strategy
	Report Approved	ü	Date	05/12/2022
Wards Affected:					All	ü

For further information please contact the author of the report

Background Papers:

York Emissions Inventory Report 2021

https://modgov.york.gov.uk/documents/s153498/EMDS_York%20Emissions%20Inventory%20Report_2021.pdf

Climate Change Action Update

https://modgov.york.gov.uk/documents/s158862/EMDS_Climate%20Change%20Action%20Update_May%202022.pdf

Annexes

SCATTER York Summary 2019

29 June 2021

Implications

Head of Carbon Reduction

Policy, Intelligence, Carbon and Communications

Claire Foale

Annexes