Agenda item

The Corporate Property Team Manager attended the meeting to answer questions relating to the Carbon Management Plan Progress Report 2023/24 and the operational conditions and progress to Net Zero as an organisation. 

Members questioned if there is a sound methodology for reporting on Scope 3 – “emissions arising from business travel in private cars and on public transport”?  Officers are currently reviewing the emissions included within the scope of this performance reporting and hope to be able to reflect advances in reporting data that will allow more scope 3 emissions to be reported.  It is hoped that the next annual report will include the following information pertaining to scope 3 emissions:

·       Goods and services purchased by the Authority

·       Employee commuting

·       Home working

Appendix 1 showed the scope of the Authority carbon footprint and advances in technology will continue to progress reducing the Authority emissions.  Where a building is refurbished renewables will be used.  It will get harder to reduce emissions over time and will become more costly.  Achieving Net Zero for the Authority will come at a cost.

Scope 2  was discussed and a question asked about how confident are we that the energy being used is renewable energy?  The current situation reflects the guidance on carbon reporting and so it is considered to be zero emissions.  The drive to Net Zero should not stop other activities taking place at sites and does not affect the decision making process. 

Emissions from Authority properties were discussed with regard to Scope 3.  New tenancies  are tending to be of lower agricultural intensity and therefore have lower emissions.  The four older tenancies that the Authority has inherited cannot be altered at the moment and make up 30-40% of the total estate.  When these leases come up for renewal then it will be possible to look at the conditions of the lease and make changes accordingly.  It was noted that the Warslow tenancies have a significantly higher carbon footprint compared to the other tenancies.

Now that there is data available it can be integrated into the decision making process.  Members asked what support is given to the current tenancies in order to help them reduce emissions.  The key support is in providing information in order to guide decisions around how land is being used e.g. trees/ wild-flower meadows/ intensive grazing.  The carbon workshop looked at the National Park as a whole and how to reduce spikes in emission as much as possible by rationalising spikes in some areas against other areas.  It is a balancing act  across the park and comes with cost implications, it was recognised that it is necessary to grow crops to produce food and an example would be to plant trees in areas where crops cannot be grown. It is a matter of the right tree, in the right place, for the right reason and this needs to be properly managed. 

The target is to get to zero emissions by 2050 and there will be interim targets set by Race to Zero.  It was suggested that for those land based emissions which cannot be reduces these could be offset elsewhere e.g. more buildings with solar panels however there are conservation implications for this and for the protection of the cultural heritage of a building.

Land based emissions were discussed and it was noted that there is now no sequestration associated with grassland as overall this is considered to be in equilibrium, emitting a similar amount of carbon over a year as it sequesters.  It was also noted that UK peatland, on the whole, is still emitting carbon even following restoration – however there is a reduction in the amount of carbon emitted.

The figures produces are national statistics and are not based on figures from the Peak District National Park, it would be useful to have these figures broken down to the individual park level.  In the future the next report will aim to have more relevant figures and the Corporate Property Team Manager will work with Faith Johnson from EQM for the final report.

The recommendation as set out in the report was proposed, seconded, put to the vote and carried.

RESOLVED:

1.     That Members take note of the information provided within Appendix 1 and recognise it as a reflection of the carbon emissions of the Authority’s operations.