Report Template

Meeting:	Combined Executive Member Decision Session
Meeting date:	04/11/2025
Report of:	Claire Foale, Chief Strategy Officer
Portfolio of:	Executive Member for Environment and Climate Emergency

Decision Report: York Emissions Inventory Report 2025

Subject of Report

1. This report presents the latest York Emissions Inventory Report (2025) for the reporting years 2022 and 2023. The data is used to monitor progress against the council ambition to achieve net zero carbon for the city by 2030.

2. The discontinuation of the SCATTER tool means that this, and future emissions inventories, will be compiled using the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero’s (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.

3. City-wide emissions measured 803ktCO₂e in 2022, an 11% decrease from 2021 (906ktCO₂e). The following year (2023), city-wide emissions decreased to 758ktCO₂e, a further 6% decrease from the previous year, and an overall reduction of 16% since 2021.

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 improving carbon accounting and management options to include Scope 3 (indirect) emissions in the future.

5. The built environment and transport sector account for over 80% of our direct local emissions, with the Council responsible for just over 1% of direct city-wide emissions. The Council’s operational emissions are reported separately.

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. 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.

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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.

Financial Strategy Implications

11. 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

12. The Executive Member is asked to

i. Approve the York Emissions Inventory Report for publication.

ii. Approve the adoption of the UK local authority and regional

emissions dataset as the reporting methodology for future city-wide Emissions Inventories.

Reason: Provide transparency of progress against the ambition for York to be net zero by 2030.

Background

Methodological Background

13. 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.

14. This report presents the latest York Emissions Inventory Report (2025) for the reporting years 2022 and 2023. It uses source data from the UK local authority and regional emissions dataset, which provides a spatial disaggregation of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GHGI). This methodology was also adopted in the previous York Emissions Inventories in 2023 and 2024 (reporting years 2021 and 2020).

15. Reports from 2021[2] and 2022[3] , were compiled using the SCATTER tool[4] . After a temporary discontinuation in 2023, the SCATTER tool was officially discontinued in 2025. Consequently, it is suggested that the ‘UK local authority and regional emissions dataset’ is adopted as the primary inventory compilation resource going forward.

16. This report includes two reporting years (2022 and 2023), as the UK local authority dataset publishes emissions statistics a year ahead of the SCATTER tool previously adopted by the Council. As such, two years of data is presented in 2025, and a regular reporting cycle will resume from 2026 onwards.

17. While the emissions sources remain the same, there has been some recategorization of data following the move away from the discontinued SCATTER tool and alignment with the UK local authority dataset. Although categories such as ‘industry’ and ‘agriculture and land-use’ may appear to have increased in comparison to the previous emissions inventory (2024), this is due to the recategorization of industrial and agricultural energy use from non-domestic buildings to their respective categories. All categories have seen a decrease in emissions from 2021, independently of which categorisation method has been used.

18. 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.

19. The GHGI methodology undergoes continuous improvement every year. A consistent time series has been produced by re-calculating the 2005 to 2022 estimates to reflect the methodological changes used in calculating the 2023 estimates. This is important as it allows changes to be monitored over time.[5]

York’s City-Wide Emissions

20. York’s Scope 1 and 2 (Direct) emissions were 758ktCO₂e in 2023, a 16% decrease from the last reporting year (2021 906ktCO₂e). City-wide emissions accounted for 803ktCO₂e in 2022, an 11% decrease from 2021 (906ktCO₂e).

21. The largest share of this reduction was due to decreases in emissions from the built environment, which has decreased by nearly 40% since 2021.

22. As in previous years, the built environment (domestic and non-domestic buildings) remains York’s largest source of emissions (46%). Transport remains the second largest contributor to emissions at 34%.

23. Agriculture and Land-use, Waste and Industry each account for less than 10% of York’s emissions.

Figure 3 York's total city-wide emissions from 2005-2023, compiled using DESNZ Local Authority Data from 2025. The 2005-2022 time-series has been recalculated using the most up to date methodology. ,Figure 2 York's city-wide emissions as reported in CYC's previous emissions inventories (Emission Inventories 2021-2025).

Built Environment

24. The built environment comprises the largest share of York’s emissions (46%), however this category has also seen the largest decrease since 2021 (-90ktCO₂e).

25. From 2021 to 2023, emissions from domestic buildings fell by 22% (-64ktCO₂e). Most of this change occurred between 2021 and 2022, which may be impacted by the ‘return to work’ following COVID-19 Pandemic. However, there was still a significant decrease of 5% between 2022 and 2023. This is consistent with the national picture; between 2022 and 2023, domestic sector emissions fell by 6% across the UK. High energy costs are likely to have been a factor in reduced gas use for heating buildings.

26. In non-domestic buildings, there has been a decrease of 17% (-25.2ktCO₂e) from 2021-2023[6], with the majority of this decrease occurring from 2022 to 2023. This is in part due to reduced emissions from electricity supply, reflective of higher electricity imports from France in 2023, a continued decrease in electricity demand, and an increased share of renewables to meet remaining demand.

Transport

27. Transport is the second largest contributor to York’s city-wide emissions, comprising 34% of total locally derived emissions in 2021. 95% of these emissions can be attributed to car-use.

28. This is largely consistent with the national picture; in 2023, 32% of emissions assigned to local authority areas were attributed to the transport sector

29. There were no significant changes in emissions transport between 2021 and 2023.

Agriculture and Land-Use, Waste, and Industry

30. Despite for accounting for less than 10% of York’s emissions, each of these categories decreased significantly from 2021-2023 with a total saving of -57.5ktCO₂e.

Consultation Analysis

31. 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.

32. Consultation with the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority was also conducted to ensure regional cohesion in reporting practices, methodologies and standards.

33. 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 has taken place to inform and support this report[7].

34. Our city-wide climate action is independently reviewed through our city-wide emissions reporting to CDP, a global disclosure system and benchmarking platform. We have received an A rating in 2022, 2023, and 2024 for our climate action disclosure.

Options Analysis and Evidential Basis

35. 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.

36. 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 identified.

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

· Procurement: No implications identified.

· Health and Wellbeing: Publication of this report increases transparency and accountability of the Council’s work to reduce carbon emissions which is welcome given the growing body of research that shows actions to reduce carbon emissions are beneficial to 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 identified.

· 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: Whilst there are no specific implications for the report itself, the data and analysis included can be used as part of the organisation’s wider communications and engagement work around climate and sustainability.

· Economy: No implications identified.

Risks and Mitigations

37. 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.

38. 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.

39. Time: With a 2-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.

40. 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. Specific data limitations are addressed in the associated Technical Report[8]. At present, this inventory represents the most comprehensive source of data available. 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

41. All wards.

Contact details

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

Author

Name:	Shaun Gibbons
Job Title:	Head of Carbon Reduction
Service Area:	Carbon Reduction
Telephone:	07923 222971
Report approved:	Yes
Date:	23/10/2025

Co-author

Name:	Claire Foale
Job Title:	Chief Strategy Officer
Service Area:	City Development
Telephone:	01904 552057
Report approved:	Yes
Date:	23/10/2025

Background papers

Background paper: Council approve The Climate Change Strategy 2022-2032

Agenda for Council on Thursday, 15 December 2022, 6.30 pm (york.gov.uk) item 36

Background paper: Council approve the Council Plan 2023-2027

Agenda for Council on Thursday, 21 September 2023, 6.30 pm (york.gov.uk) item 6

Background paper: York Emissions Inventory Report 2024

https://democracy.york.gov.uk/documents/s179439/EMDS_City%20Wide%20Emissions%202024.pdf

Background paper: York Emissions Inventory Report 2023

https://modgov.york.gov.uk/documents/s171184/York%20Emissions%20Inventory%20Report%202023.pdf

Background paper: York Emissions Inventory Report 2022

https://modgov.york.gov.uk/documents/s164308/EMDS%20City%20Emissions%20Dec%202022.pdf

Background paper: York Emissions Inventory Report 2021

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

Annexes

Annex A: UK local authority and regional greenhouse gas emissions

national statistics (York)

Abbreviations

CDP – Formerly Carbon Disclosure Project

DESNZ - Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero

DPIA - Data Protection Impact Assessment

DUKES – Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics

GDP – Gross Domestic Product

GHG – Greenhouse Gas

GHGI - Greenhouse Gas Inventory

kCO₂e – Thousand tonnes of Carbon Dioxide equivalent

NAEI - National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory

UK GHGI – United Kingdom Green House Gas Inventory

[5] Previous emission inventories use the most up-to-date data at the time of publishing.

[6] This accounts for the recategorization of the non-domestic category, from which industrial and agricultural energy usage which now sit in ‘Industry’ and ‘Agriculture and Land use’ respectively.