Councillors have taken steps which will enable us and our suppliers to continue reducing carbon emissions.
Our Cabinet has agreed our Carbon Reduction Plan 2024–2027 and adopted our Low Carbon Supply Chain Strategy 2024–2026.
We declared a climate emergency in 2019 and the reduction of carbon emissions is one of our priorities.
We have made good progress towards our target to reach net-zero by 2030 (a 70% absolute reduction in corporate emissions with the remainder, including those in the supply chain, being offset).
Carbon emissions in 2022/23 were 56% lower than in 2012/13 thanks to a number of measures including retrofitting of nine of our buildings, the roll-out of LED lights on streetlighting and traffic signals and upgrading some of our vehicle fleet to electric vehicles.
The Carbon Reduction Plan sets out ambitious proposals for further carbon savings over the next three years through retrofitting more of our buildings, completing the upgrade of LED streetlighting, encouraging school transport providers to switch to electric vehicles, and installing more electric vehicle charging points.
The adoption of the Low Carbon Supply Chain Strategy 2024–2026 will aim to address the level of carbon emissions from our supply chain, which is roughly 19 times larger than the corporate carbon footprint directly controlled by us.
Currently, 20% of our spend is covered by a net-zero target, but the strategy aims to increase this to 50% by the end of March 2026.
We will improve our carbon data capture systems, using tools being developed in our Highways Carbon Reduction Project and potentially rolling it out to other service areas and suppliers.
Suppliers will be supported to report the carbon emissions related to the delivery of their contract, goods or services, and data collection from suppliers will need to be in a consistent format to ensure a more accurate picture of emissions.
Councillor Andrea Davis, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment and Transport, said:
“For a large rural county we’ve done extremely well and we’ve risen to the challenge, but we’re determined to build on this success with the Carbon Reduction Plan and our Low Carbon Supply Chain Strategy. We’re ambitious and we’re continuing to look for opportunities to exceed our targets, particularly as the carbon footprint from our suppliers is 19 times larger than DCC’s footprint, which is something we need to tackle.”
Councillor Phil Twiss, Cabinet Member for Finance, said:
“As a major employer and contractor of services in Devon, I’m delighted that we are leading by example with this strategy, hopefully encouraging others to do the same. Although the County Council doesn’t have direct control over the companies in our supply chain, through the actions set out in our strategy we have an opportunity to help influence and reduce their impact on the environment while carrying out work for and on behalf of the council.”
