Our carbon footprint
The Carbon Footprint Baseline Report, produced by the Carbon Trust, was the first step on our journey to becoming a carbon neutral organisation by 2030.
The Carbon Trust audited our buildings (focusing on the Civic Centre and Centres for the Community) in winter 2019, collecting extensive data and identifying carbon reduction opportunities.
Our operational carbon footprint for direct operations was equal to 1,236 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) (2018 to 2019). Emissions from council-operated activities primarily come from electricity and gas consumption across council-operated buildings, alongside fuel consumption associated with council-owned vehicles.
Since the initial assessment we monitor our carbon footprint for our direct operations which includes our Civic Centre and Centres for the Community, as well as our fleet mileage, staff commuting, business travel miles, waste and water consumption.
Annual carbon footprint: emissions
The table below provides a summary of our annual carbon footprint figures (1 April to 31 March). The large reduction in emissions from 2019-2020 to 2020-2021 is due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, and 2021 to 2022 was still low due to the post pandemic recovery and living with COVID guidance. The figures for 2022 to 2023 reflect the return to a normative period post pandemic.
| Source | 2018 to 2019 | 2019 to 2020 | 2020 to 2021 | 2021 to 2022 | 2022 to 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electricity | 397.2 | 313.4 | 207.6 | 198.3 | 210.3 |
| Gas | 264.7 | 379.6 | 297.3 | 302.3 | 294.1 |
| Water | 5.3 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 1.9 | 1.1 |
| Waste | 34.2 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.4 |
| Fleet | 338.9 | 70.2 | 69.6 | 110.6 | 103.3 |
| Business travel | 39.6 | 36.8 | 38.4 | 25.5 | 17.5 |
| Commuting | 156.0 | 232.1 | 67.4 | 67.7 | 222.1 |
| Total tCO2 | 1,235.9 | 1,038.7 | 686.8 | 707.5 | 848.8 |
Carbon management and reduction plan
Our Carbon Management and Reduction Plan is our action plan to reduce carbon emissions and reach our target to become a carbon neutral organisation by 2030. The Plan was first published in September 2020, and has been revised.
The plan proposes carbon reduction actions in the following areas:
- organisation emissions: proposing actions such as solar photovoltaic (solar panel) installations
- transport and air quality: proposing a shift to a fully electric council fleet
- housing and planning: proposing to engage with homeowners, landlords and residents to promote retrofitting measures and funding opportunities
- buildings and infrastructure: making sustainability and carbon considerations integral in the development of the new Local Plan
- monitoring and evaluation: monitoring operational carbon emissions and reporting on progress
- carbon offsetting: proposing to consider offsetting unavoidable carbon emissions
Surrey’s Climate Change Strategy
We have endorsed the strategic ambitions and priorities of Surrey’s Climate Change Strategy.