Climate Change and Air Quality Progress Report 2023 to 2024
Governance and management
A total of eight interdepartmental working groups have been created or identified as working toward the implementation of the Climate Change & Air Quality Strategy.
Climate Change & Air Quality Strategy Programme Board
This year has seen the initiation of our Climate Change & Air Quality Strategy Programme Board. It contains representatives from all six corporate services and is sponsored by Steve Bambrick, Corporate Director of Planning, Growth & Sustainability. The Group will meet quarterly to oversee delivery of activity against actions and to enable effective dissemination of information and offerings related to climate change across the Council.
This applies to the following themes:
- the energy transition
- decarbonisation of transport
- the built environment
- stakeholder based solutions
- nature based solutions
Council Land Tree Planting Programme Board
The Council Land Tree Planting Programme Board oversees the programme of works to plant 543,000 trees on Council Land by the end of the 2031 planting season. To date, over 192,000 trees have been planted.
This applies to the following theme:
- nature based solutions
Domestic Retrofit Programme Board
This Board has met 6 times in the reporting period and aims to improve collaboration and knowledge sharing across energy efficiency schemes. Outcomes have included improved arrangements for Energy Doctors to work with BHBH. It includes representatives from Climate Change, Domestic Resource Efficiency Service, Housing Strategy, Environmental Health and Helping Hands.
This applies to the following themes:
- the energy transition
- the built environment
Electric Vehicle Charing Infrastructure Working Group
Within our Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy we have committed to achieve net zero carbon emissions for Buckinghamshire by 2050. Transportation is a significant contributor to emissions within our LA area. EVs provide a good alternative to combustion engine vehicles as they generate zero ‘tailpipe’ emissions and have a lower whole-life carbon footprint.
The internal co-ordination of the EVCI working group will help to achieve the objectives outlined in the Buckinghamshire Electric Vehicle Action Plan (2022 to 2027):
- support the uptake of EVs within Buckinghamshire through the provision of a comprehensive network of EV charging infrastructure;
- contribute to reducing carbon and air pollutant emissions from transport by supporting the UK-wide transition to EVs;
- ensure that the EV infrastructure network is future-proofed, to allow for new technologies and trial innovative solutions;
- provide a range of publicly funded charging infrastructure to support different charging requirements, including for those without off-street charging at their home;
- support Buckinghamshire Council staff to transition to EVs through salary sacrifice and vehicle leasing schemes
- increase the council’s EV fleet capacity and provide any necessary charging infrastructure;
- work with developers, local businesses, parish and town councils to encourage provision of privately funded charge points;
Work with local public transport and taxi- and private hire companies to facilitate charging infrastructure and support the transition to zero emission vehicles
This applies to the following themes:
- the energy transition
- decarbonisation of transport
Council Estate & Climate Change Board
The Council Estate and Climate Change Board oversees initiatives to reduce emissions from and enhance the resilience of (regarding climate change) the Council’s estate (and includes representatives from Property & Assets, Climate Response, and Energy Management Teams).
This applies to the following themes:
- the energy transition
- the built environment
Public Health & Transport Strategy Collaboration
The meeting is an opportunity to discuss, collaborate and promote various projects/work being undertaken by teams from across the council which will either directly or indirectly have a co-benefit to each other’s specific area of work. The group meets quarterly and had met 4 times from October 2023 to September 2024.
The group contains representatives from Public Health, Transport Strategy, LEAP and Strategic Environmental Protection. Key examples of work have been Demand Responsive Transport (see action 44) and a Travel Planning project for local businesses being run by Strategic Environmental Protection and Transport Strategy.
This applies to the following themes:
- decarbonisation of transport
- stakeholder based solutions
Fleet De-carbonisation Co-ordination Group
This Group has met 3 times in the reporting period and includes representatives from 14 different teams including Public Transport, Climate Response, Fleet Management, Parking Services and Highways. Two core aspects of the work programme for this year include promoting and coordinating use of the Climate Change Fund to facilitate the transition to low-carbon fleet vehicles. Its work delivers against actions 24 and 25.
This applies to the following themes:
- the energy transition
- decarbonisation of transport
Health Protection Assurance Committee (HPAC)
This group is convened by the Director of Public Health under their statutory responsibilities. It meets quarterly and includes representatives from Public Health, Environmental Health, Communications, the Integrated Care Board, the UK Health Security Agency, Bucks Health Trust and NHS England. The work of this group contributes to our aim of minimising the health impacts of air pollution for residents of Buckinghamshire.
This applies to the following theme:
- stakeholder based solutions
Scope 3 emissions from Water Use (re Action 5)
Scope 3 emissions are important because they typically make up 70 to 80% of a local authority’s total emissions2. While Scope 3 emissions are not directly in the council’s control, we may still be able to influence them through our policies (for example home working and procurement) and our choice of suppliers. Our residents may also want to better understand the full impact of council operations and see how we plan to reduce these. This year, we have included our Scope 3 emissions from the supply and treatment of water used in council buildings for the first time. We will continue to assess and capture our Scope 3 emissions where practicable as we implement our Climate Change & Air Quality Strategy.
If you aren’t sure what the differences between Scopes 1, 2 and 3 are, read our insight box below.
Insight box 1: emission scopes 1, 2 & 3
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol defines three scopes of emissions:
Scope 1 emissions are released as a direct result of an activity.
For Buckinghamshire Council, this includes our gas consumption for use in buildings, and fuel combusted in our own fleet vehicles. From Table 2 – the categories “Buildings – Gas Consumption” and a proportion of “Council fleet” make up our Scope 1 emissions.
Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions related to electricity consumption.
For Buckinghamshire Council, this includes electricity used in our buildings and our streetlights, and electricity used by electric vehicles in our fleet. From Table 2 the categories “Buildings – Electricity Consumption”, “Street Lighting – Electricity Consumption” and the proportion of “Council fleet” associated with the electric vehicles in our fleet make up our Scope 2 emissions.
Scope 3 emission are indirect emissions other than from electricity.
For Buckinghamshire Council, this includes emissions arising from staff travel as part of council business, emissions associated with transmission and distribution losses from electricity consumption, and emissions associated with the supply and treatment of water used in council buildings. From Table 2 the categories “Business travel”, “Transmission and distribution” and “Water” are Scope 3 emissions.
While we calculate our full Scope 1 and 2 emissions in our analysis, our Scope 3 emissions analysis does not yet cover all Scope 3 emissions. Some Scope 3 emission categories can be hard to quantify, often due to the challenges around collecting the appropriate data. Examples of other Scope 3 emissions categories that we do not yet evaluate include:
- staff commuting – these are the emissions associated with staff travelling to and from work. Calculating these emissions would require a comprehensive staff survey to evaluate the modes of transport and distances travelled by staff to and from work.
- working from home – these are the emissions associated with council staff working from home. Calculating these emissions would require analysis of hours spent working from home and the emissions associated with heating and running office equipment.
- material use – these are emissions associated with the production of materials and products used by the council, either in construction projects (e.g. aggregates, bricks etc.) or in office-based activities (for example food, paper etc.).
- waste generated from own operations – these are the emissions associated with processing waste generated by the council’s operations and will be influenced by the type of waste and method of disposal.
- outsourced Scope 3 emissions – these are the Scope 1 to 3 emissions of organisations proving services on Buckinghamshire Council’s behalf, for example, leisure centres or social care.