Report Template

Meeting:	Decision Session - Executive Member for Environment and Climate Emergency
Meeting date:	19/11/2024
Report of:	Claire Foale, Interim Director of City Development
Portfolio of:	Cllr Kent, Executive Member for Environment and Climate Emergency

Decision Report: York Emissions Inventory Report 2024

Subject of Report

1. This report presents the latest York Emissions Report Inventory (2024) for the reporting year 2021. The data is 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 the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) most recent UK local authority and regional greenhouse gas emissions dataset[1]. The methodology used to create this dataset is revised annually, and therefore data may differ from previous reports. The latest dataset includes an additional category for emissions associated with ‘Peatland’, which was not present in the previous year.

3. City-wide emissions accounted for 906ktCO₂e in 2021, a 5% increase from 2020 (861ktCO₂e). This is likely due to the return-to-work period following the COVID-19 pandemic.

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

5. The built environment and transport sector account for nearly 90% of our direct local emissions, with the Council responsible for less than 1% of city-wide emissions.

Benefits and Challenges

6. Annual publication of York’s city-wide emissions allows the Council and its partners to monitor progress towards our net-zero ambition. Regular reporting will track the impact of our work and enable reflection and correction if required.

7. It is notable that emissions data is not provided at the action level, meaning monitoring the impacts of a specific project in this way is challenging, particularly if several projects contribute to emissions reductions in the same area.

8. York’s Climate Change Strategy represents a collaborative effort. However, partners will use their own methodology to measure their carbon impact and there may be occasions when data is not aligned. This can create challenges in measuring progress towards our shared ambition. City partners will work together to present a shared narrative about data as it is published.

9. Further challenges relating to this city-wide emissions inventory can be found in the “Risks and Mitigations Section” of this report.

Policy Basis for Decision

10. In 2019, City of York Council declared a Climate Emergency and set the ambition for York to reach net zero by 2030. The York Climate Change Strategy (2022) sets the framework required to meet this ambition. This report demonstrates the city’s progress towards net zero.

11. Climate is one of the four core commitments in the Council Plan (2023-2027), requiring the Council to understand the impact our actions have on the environment. The Council Plan includes carbon emissions across the city as a Key Performance Indicator of City Outcomes for this reason.

Financial Strategy Implications

12. This report identifies the value of emissions across the city and the associated annual trends. There are no identifiable financial implications arising from the recommendations in the report that will impact the Council’s Financial Strategy.

Recommendation and Reasons

13. The Executive Member is asked to:

i) Approve the York Emissions Inventory Report for publication.

Reason: To provide transparency of progress against the ambition for York to be net zero by 2030 in line with the Council Plan’s Key Performance Indicator.

Background

Methodological Background

14. In 2019, City of York Council declared a Climate Emergency and set an ambition for York to be a net zero city by 2030. This ambition is reflected in the York Climate Change Strategy (2022) and the Council Plan (2023-2027). To monitor progress against this ambition, an annual report is produced for city-wide emissions.

15. This report presents the latest York Emissions Report Inventory (2024) for the reporting year 2021. It uses source data from the UK local authority and regional emissions dataset, which provides a spatial disaggregation of greenhouse gas emissions from the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GHGI). This methodology was also adopted in the previous York Emissions Report Inventory (2023) for the reporting year 2020.

16. Reports from 2021[2] and 2022[3], were compiled using the SCATTER tool[4]. The SCATTER tool was temporarily discontinued in 2023, and the publication of data for reporting year 2021 has not yet been confirmed. As such this emissions report has been compiled using the GHGI. This does not significantly alter the outcome of the report, as GHGI is also used as the source data for SCATTER.

17. GHGI is updated annually on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) as part of the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) programme. The most recent estimates published by DESNZ relate to two years earlier; as such, the data does not reflect the current level of emissions.

18. The data provided by DESNZ represents local emissions but also disaggregation of national data metrics for area size, GDP and population. As such, this data does not include any unique emissions reduction as a result of York climate action.

York’s City-Wide Emissions

19. York’s Scope 1 and 2 (Direct) emissions were in 906ktCO₂e in 2021, 5% increase from 2020 (861ktCO₂e).

20.
As in previous years, the largest proportion of emissions can be attributed to the built environment (58%) and transport (29%). Agriculture and Land-Use, Industry and Waste each make up 10% or less of city-wide emissions. The full distribution of York’s emissions can be seen in Figures 1, 2 and 3.

Built Environment

21. The built environment has seen an increase in emissions from 2020 to 2021 (+45ktCO₂e), with over 90% of this increase attributed to non-domestic emissions.

22. This follows an unusually low year in non-domestic emissions in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, this increase likely reflects the return-to-work period after the lockdowns seen throughout 2020. For instance, emissions in common workplace sectors, such as public sector and commercial spaces, have increased.

Transport

23. Transport is the second largest contributor to York’s city-wide emissions, comprising 29% of total locally derived emissions in 2021.

24. Emissions from transport have decreased from the previous year (-4ktCO₂e from 2020) and have not returned to-pre-pandemic levels (-71ktCO₂e from 2019).

Agriculture and Land-Use, Waste, and Industry

25. Emissions for these categories are largely unchanged between 2020 and 2021 (<+/-2ktCO₂e).

26. Emissions from industry and agriculture and land-use have seen slight increases while emissions from waste have decreased since 2020.

Consultation Analysis

27. The Council’s internal Climate Change and Natural Capital Programme Board was consulted to overview the city-wide emissions data in its capacity to provide oversight, monitor progress, identify opportunities and manage risk relating to the Climate Change Programme.

28. The data informing this report is sourced from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s UK local authority and regional greenhouse gas emissions statistics. Consultation of the Technical Report[5] has taken place to inform and support this report.

29. Our city-wide climate action is also independently reviewed. The Council also report city-wide emissions through CDP, a global disclosure system and benchmarking platform. We have received an A rating in 2022 and 2023 for our climate action disclosure.

Options Analysis and Evidential Basis

30. This report seeks to approve the York Emissions Inventory Report for publication. Options and their implications consist of:

a) Do nothing – do not approve the York Emissions Inventory Report.

b) Approve the York Emissions Inventory Report.

31. The publication of a city-wide emissions inventory supports the Council’s goal of providing transparency of the progress made against the ambition for York to be net zero by 2030, in line with the Council Plan’s Key Performance Indicator.

Organisational Impact and Implications

· Financial: The report highlights investment that the council is making in reducing its overall emissions. Further reductions in emissions will require additional investment and this continues to be sought from external bodies as well as within current budgets.

· Human Resources (HR): No implications

· Legal: There are no legal implications linked to the recommendations specifically referred to within this report.

· Procurement: No implications.

· Health and Wellbeing: There is a growing body of research which shows that actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are beneficial to health, mainly due to the reduction in outdoor and household air pollution, better insulated homes and increase in healthy behaviours – including increased physical activity, by walking and cycling. Reduction in respiratory disease linked to reduced air pollution together with substantial reductions in heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes, road deaths and injuries are also possible to improve public health.

· Environment and Climate action: City-wide emissions reporting allows us to track progress against the Council ambition for York to be net zero by 2030.

· Affordability: No implications.

· Equalities and Human Rights: No equalities impact for this report as the Executive Member is being asked to accept a retrospective report.

· Data Protection and Privacy: As there is no personal data, special categories of personal data or criminal offence data being processed, there is no requirement to complete a data protection impact assessment (DPIA). This is evidenced by completion of DPIA screening questions AD-10400.

· Communications: No implications received

· Economy: No implications received

Risks and Mitigations

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

33. Methodology: DESNZ implements a programme of continuous improvements and revisions to the point source data included in the local authority GHG emissions dataset. As such these data are revised across the entire timeseries each year. In some instances where additional data have become available, or where improvements to the UK GHGI methodology or DUKES commodity balances have been made, the point source data will be impacted. While most data will be unchanged from previous local authority estimates, the Council will use the most up-to-date information available for the reported year at time of writing to reflect these methodological improvements.

34. 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.

35. Aggregation: The Local Authority and Regional Greenhouse Gas Dataset relies on disaggregation of national data and apportionment to York’s geography. While this is the best available indicator for sub-national area-wide emissions, it does not accurately reflect the emissions local to York. Work is ongoing to identify a bottom-up approach to emissions reporting that will more accurately represent York’s area-wide emissions inventory.

Wards Impacted

36. All wards.

Contact details

For further information please contact the authors of this Decision Report.

Author