Carbon emissions report

Find out about East Renfrewshire Council's carbon emissions report

Read our  latest carbon emissions report (PDF) [414KB]  generated from our operations in 2021/2022

We've included a wide range of emissions within the report, broader than many other Councils in Scotland. The inclusion of all our supply chain emissions in our carbon report will make sure we are focusing our energy on things we have both direct and indirect control over.

What we include in our carbon report

ScopeDefinitionSources of emissions
Scope 1All direct emissions from sources
that are owned or controlled by the Council
The gas supply and water supply and treatment for:
  • The council's own buildings  
  • Buildings operated by East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust (ERCLT)
  • Domestic property offices
  • Sheltered housing 
  • Petrol and diesel vehicles in the council fleet
Scope 2Energy-related indirect emissions from generation of purchased electricity, steam
and heating/cooling consumed by the Council

Generation of purchased electricity for: ·

  • The council's own buildings
  • Buildings operated by East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust (ERCLT)
  • Domestic property - close lighting and offices  Sheltered housing
  • Un-metered supply (i.e. street lighting, traffic signals, CCTV, bollards etc.)
  • ​​​​​​​Electric vehicles
Scope 3All other indirect emissions that are a consequence of the activities of the Council
  • Council business travel
  • Waste disposal and processing
  • Supply chain emissions (e.g. purchased goods/services)

 

Our latest emissions report

The total estimated emissions for 2021/22 was 55,856tCO2e. Procurement (e.g. supply chain), heating Council buildings and buildings operated by East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust, electricity for Council buildings, and diesel fuel for fleet vehicles accounts for most of our emissions.

The table below summarises this:

Emissions sourcePercentage of our operational emissions total

Procurement (e.g. the goods/service we buy)

72.1%

Heating council buildings (e.g. offices and schools)

10.7%

Electricity for Council buildings (e.g. offices and schools)

4.9%

Heating buildings operated by East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust (ERCLT)

3.5%

Fleet vehicles (diesel) (e.g. council cars, vans, buses and waste vehicles)

2.4%

 

East Renfrewshire Council is committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2045. Our Get to Zero Action Plan will set out how we will achieve this.

Emissions from the community

We've not yet been able to calculate the emissions that the citizens and businesses of East Renfrewshire generate. Evidence suggests that the Council can influence around 30% of these emissions through transport, planning, building standards, place-making, and waste policies. You can read more about the impact Councils can have on community emissions in the UK Committee on Climate Change report. The Scottish Government reports on all emissions produced in Scotland, which will be representative of East Renfrewshire.

The focus of action for the community will be:

  • Reducing transport emissions through digital and home working, more active travel and greater use of public transport.
  • Changing how homes are heated to rely less on gas from fossil fuels. This might include electric heating (e.g. heat pumps) or converting to alternative fuels (e.g. bio-fuels or Hydrogen).
  • Reducing consumption of raw materials through smarter design of buildings, changing shopping habits (e.g. refill, reuse, buy 2nd hand) for consumers and businesses cut waste and adopt a circular economy approach.
  • Do more in your local areas - shopping, using services, enjoying amenities, reducing the need to travel and reducing the demand for goods and service being transported long distances.
  • Changing buildings (i.e. homes and business premises) to have really high levels of insulation and energy efficiency.
Last modified on 13 February 2023

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