SEPA to miss its CO2 target

7th June 2011


Related Topics

Related tags

  • Management ,
  • Public sector ,
  • Employee engagement ,
  • Local government ,
  • Reporting

Author

IEMA

The Scottish body responsible for protecting the environment will not meet its own targets to cut carbon emissions, it has revealed.

In annual reports to its board, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) admits that it is not that it is not lowering its carbon dioxide emissions quick enough to reduce its carbon footprint by 25% against 2006/2007 levels by 2012.

During 2010/2011, SEPA cut its CO2 emissions by 6% to 2,945 tonnes and the agency estimates it will only be able to achieve a 15% cut by 2012. However, SEPA remains positive it will be able to hit its 25% target by March 2013.

SEPA’s greatest emissions come from electricity consumption, which has actually risen since 2006/2007 from 1,224 tonnes to 1,365 tonnes. The agency argues that this is a result of staff numbers increasing since the targets were set, but that it has now put a number of steps in place to decrease emissions.

In March, the agency installed monitoring software on its computers that revealed some staff were leaving their machines on overnight.

The chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland Stan Blackley reacted to the news saying that SEPA was behind the curve on tackling the issue.

"The environment movement has been urging the switching-off of computers, electrical appliances and lights when they're not required for as long as I can remember,” he said.

"This has been a key message of the Scottish government's own 'do a little, change a lot' campaign for years. It sounds to me like SEPA could be doing a whole lot more to spread that message to its own staff."

However, SEPA responded arguing the number of computers left on were actually far below the average.

"Typical figures show that 40%-50% of computers are left on overnight. In March there were only 400 instances of computers being left on overnight out of 1,700 machines, with 100 of those being identified as business critical that cannot be switched off,” confirmed a spokesman.


“We have been undertaking a sustained campaign to remind staff to switch off their computers at night, with the installation of the Nightwatchman programme a part of that. We were the first UK environment agency to install this software.”

The move follows other successful initiatives at SEPA that have seen it reduce its paper consumption by 20% and a 24% reduction in emissions from business travel.

Subscribe

Subscribe to IEMA's newsletters to receive timely articles, expert opinions, event announcements, and much more, directly in your inbox.


Transform articles

Facing the climate emergency challenge in local government

It’s well recognised that the public sector has the opportunity to work towards a national net-zero landscape that goes well beyond improving on its own performance; it can also influence through procurement and can direct through policy.

19th March 2024

Read more

The UK government’s carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) strategy is based on optimistic techno-economic assumptions that are now outdated, Carbon Tracker has warned.

13th March 2024

Read more

The UK’s new biodiversity net gain (BNG) requirements could create 15,000 hectares of woodlands, heath, grasslands, and wetlands and absorb 650,000 tonnes of carbon each year.

13th March 2024

Read more

The UK government’s latest Public Attitudes Tracker has found broad support for efforts to tackle climate change, although there are significant concerns that bills will rise.

13th March 2024

Read more

Multinational corporations are undermining their net-zero commitments with excessive air travel and no plans to reduce ‘the low hanging fruit’ of carbon footprints, a study by Transport & Environment has found.

13th March 2024

Read more

The UK government’s climate adaptation plans are ‘inadequate’ and falling ‘far short’ of what is required, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has warned today.

13th March 2024

Read more

Large businesses across the world are avoiding climate action due to fear they will be called out for getting their work wrong, according to a new Carbon Trust report.

29th February 2024

Read more

A thought-provoking discussion on how storytelling can change the world took place in Central London last night, alongside an exclusive sneak preview of an upcoming IEMA film series.

29th February 2024

Read more

Media enquires

Looking for an expert to speak at an event or comment on an item in the news?

Find an expert

IEMA Cookie Notice

Clicking the ‘Accept all’ button means you are accepting analytics and third-party cookies. Our website uses necessary cookies which are required in order to make our website work. In addition to these, we use analytics and third-party cookies to optimise site functionality and give you the best possible experience. To control which cookies are set, click ‘Settings’. To learn more about cookies, how we use them on our website and how to change your cookie settings please view our cookie policy.

Manage cookie settings

Our use of cookies

You can learn more detailed information in our cookie policy.

Some cookies are essential, but non-essential cookies help us to improve the experience on our site by providing insights into how the site is being used. To maintain privacy management, this relies on cookie identifiers. Resetting or deleting your browser cookies will reset these preferences.

Essential cookies

These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website.

Analytics cookies

These cookies allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors to our website and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works.

Advertising cookies

These cookies allow us to tailor advertising to you based on your interests. If you do not accept these cookies, you will still see adverts, but these will be more generic.

Save and close