Question
In order to objectively track progress towards this Councils declared goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030 and to be able to continuously and accurately monitor total CO2 emissions levels compared to the current base level.
Can the Executive Member confirm the current monitoring mechanisms that are in place now and include in his answer any that may need to be urgently added or upgraded to enable the Council to accurately monitor total CO2 emissions levels?
Minutes:
Question
In order to objectively track progress towards this Council’s declared goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030 and to be able to continuously and accurately monitor total CO2 emission levels compared to the current base level.
Can the Executive Member confirm the current monitoring mechanisms that are in place now and include in his answer any that may need to be urgently added or upgraded to enable the Council to accurately monitor total CO2 emission levels?
Answer
I welcome this question from Cllr Mather as an opportunity to update all Members on a few key areas of focus for the Council since we declared a Climate Emergency at our July meeting.
In order to be able to achieve Carbon Neutral by 2030 it is clearly essential that we must first calculate the starting point of what our carbon footprint currently is. Only from there can we begin to develop and implement an action plan that will both reduce and offset our carbon emissions between now and 2030.
The most recent figures published by the National Atmospheric Emissions Authority estimated the Carbon Footprint of Wokingham Borough at 771,000 tonnes in 2017. The good news is that this has tracked downwards since 2013 as a result of work already being implemented across the Borough by residents and businesses. Clearly our increased housing and population will have added to this figure.
Working from two year old data though is clearly not an ideal starting point. To enable a more accurate current figure I have established a Cross-Council ‘Climate Emergency Officer Implementation Group’, chaired by Graham Ebers, and that I have also attended. A key early task for this Group will be to establish a carbon footprint baseline and a framework for the ongoing monitoring and publishing of progress in reducing our carbon footprint across the Borough.
I have asked Officers to review multiple approaches to calculating our carbon footprint to ensure the baseline number that we work from is as accurate as possible. Fortunately, as part of an increasing group of Councils that have declared a climate emergency, we have access to a growing wealth of data and techniques for calculating a Carbon Footprint. We also have access to a fantastic bank of knowledge and experience at the University of Reading.
As soon as it has been calculated it is my intention to publish this baseline carbon footprint so that it is clear to all our residents just how big and important a task we have ahead of us.
Whilst I cannot be specific about any potential gaps at this stage I have asked Officers to develop a draft monitoring framework that is both robust and practicable. I will, of course, share this with the cross party working group on Climate Emergency and am also happy to share it with all Councillors and residents once the methodology is finalised.
Supplementary Question
Can the Executive Member confirm that both the construction and operating emissions of new houses, roads and commercial premises will be counted in the CO2 emissions?
Supplementary Answer
Yes they will.