Carbon emissions report
Find out about East Renfrewshire Council's carbon emissions report
Read our latest carbon emissions report (PDF, 690 KB) generated from our operations in 2023/2024
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
| Scope | Definition | Sources of emissions |
|---|---|---|
| Scope 1 | All direct emissions from sources that are owned or controlled by the Council | The gas supply for:
Fuel (diesel) use for vehicles in the Council fleet |
| Scope 2 | Energy-related indirect emissions from generation of purchased electricity, steam and heating/cooling consumed by the Council | Generation of purchased electricity for: ยท
|
| Scope 3 | All other indirect emissions that are a consequence of the activities of the Council |
|
Our latest emissions report
The total estimated emissions for 2023/24 was 53,625tCO2e. Procurement (e.g. supply chain), heating Council buildings and buildings operated by East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust, electricity for Council buildings and un-metered supplies (e.g. street lighting) accounts for most of our emissions.
The table below summarises this:
| Emissions source | Percentage of our operational emissions total |
|---|---|
Procurement (e.g. the goods/service we buy) | 75.1% |
Heating council buildings (e.g. offices and schools) | 9.2% |
Electricity for Council buildings (e.g. offices and schools) | 4.8% |
Heating buildings operated by East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust (ERCLT) | 3.8% |
Electricity for un-metered supplies (e.g. street lighting) | 1.4% |
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.
For more details read our Get to Zero' climate change action plan.
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.
