Memorandum submitted by Natural England
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
— Natural England has vested credibility
as an environmental leader in setting a target to reduce carbon
emissions by 50% by the end of 2010. In achieving this target,
Natural England will demonstrate good value for money but will
not offset its emissions nor pass on the carbon burden to its
staff, customers or suppliers.
— A baseline of 6676 tonnes of carbon
dioxide (tCO2) for 2007 was calculated against which progress
will be measured. During 2008 carbon emissions were reduced
by 19.6%, mainly from improved energy management on the Natural
England estate.
— Senior level commitment and staff ownership
of the carbon reduction target has been critical to enabling and
maintaining more sustainable ways of working.
— The experience of, and progress made
by, Natural England over the short term could readily be replicated
in other parts of the public sector given the right level of commitment
and support.
— Natural England will support Government
in setting higher standards and targets as part of the Sustainable
Operations on the Government Estate framework.
1. BACKGROUND
1.1 Natural England is a Non-Departmental
Public Body created in 2006 under the Natural Environment
and Rural Communities Act by bringing together English Nature
and parts of the Rural Development Service and the Countryside
Agency. Natural England has been charged with the responsibility
to ensure that England's unique natural environment, including
its flora, fauna, land and seascapes, geology and soils are protected
and improved.
1.2 Natural England's purpose, as outlined
in the Act, is to ensure that the natural environment is conserved,
enhanced and managed for the benefit of present and future generations,
thereby contributing to sustainable development.
1.3 At vesting, Natural England set out
its target to reduce the carbon emissions of its estate energy
use and its business travel by 50% by the end of 2010. To further
demonstrate its environmental leadership, Natural England will
achieve the target through direct reductions in emissions and
not through carbon offsetting or passing on the carbon burden
to its customers, suppliers or staff. Natural England has further
committed to ensuring that delivering this target will be cost
neutral with all upfront investment paid back in five years.
1.4 An initial baseline of 6676 tCO2 was
established for the 2007 calendar year against which future
emissions would be measured. This was based on the methodology
set out in ISO14064 and is based on the Defra carbon emission
factors. Approximately two-thirds of the baseline was made up
of carbon emitted through energy consumption on the Natural England
built estate whilst business travel accounted for the remaining
third.
1.5 As a result, three integrated work programmes
have been implemented to reduce the organisational carbon footprint:
Estates; Business Travel; and, Leadership & Communications.
It is also recognised that the contribution that each programme
makes varies in both the amount of carbon it can reduce and the
timing of this reduction. A more detailed description of each
is set out below.
2. WORK PROGRAMME
1: ESTATES
2.1 The Natural England estate accounted
for 4349 tCO2 of the 2007 baseline. At vesting
it consisted of 105 properties—68 offices and
37 National Nature Reserve buildings.
2.2 The majority of Natural England offices
are leased from Defra or a private sector landlord.
2.3 An estates rationalisation programme
has been ongoing since vesting and was initially introduced to
resolve duplication of offices in the same geographic location,
as the result of creation of Natural England from three public
sector organisations. It was also identified as an early opportunity
to both demonstrate a reduction in emissions and to enable staff
to work more flexibly, provided that the carbon benefits of an
office closure did not lead to increased business travel and commuting.
The number of offices has been reduced by 15 during 2007 and
a further five during 2008. The current plan is to move to a 32 office
model by the end of 2010.
2.4 Early engagement and Defra's support
for Natural England achieving its target, has resulted in close
partnership working between the two bodies to improve the energy
performance of shared buildings across the estate.
2.5 During 2008 a number of Natural
England offices were installed with PowerPerfector voltage optimisation
equipment, automatic meter readers and a range of office-specific
energy efficiency technologies. One building was also installed
with a biomass boiler. Further energy saving activity is programmed
for 2009.
2.6 A large number of staff are engaged
in the office energy efficiency programme (see Sustainability
Champions below) and, although it is not possible to quantify
the exact contribution they make, their effort is reflected in
their overall office carbon emission figure.
2.7 During 2008, the carbon emissions of
the Natural England estate fell by 1257 tCO2 (28.9%
of the estate baseline) to 3092 tCO2.
3. WORK PROGRAMME
2: BUSINESS TRAVEL
3.1 Travel on behalf of Natural England
contributed 2327 tCO2 to the 2007 baseline. Of
this, car travel (grey fleet, pool cars or hire vehicles) made
up 74% (1730 tCO2) of all travel emissions.
3.2 During 2008 an organisational discussion
and consultation on a range of policy options for green travel
was initiated with a final policy being published in August. The
Green Travel Policy focuses on reducing the need to travel or
reducing the carbon impact of travel, whilst balancing other factors
such as time and cost. This was complimented by a considerable
investment in tele and video-conferencing facilities across the
organisation.
3.3 The final Policy also prioritises support
to those staff who are required to travel on a regular basis due
to the nature of their role and also on introducing team travel
carbon "budgets" and targets during 2009-10.
3.4 During 2008 the carbon emissions
from travel fell by 55 tCO2 (2.4% of the baseline) to
2272 tCO2. This small reduction reflected the challenges
of behavioural change but the investments made in tele and video
conferencing are already showing significant reductions in travel
during the early part of 2009. A further result of 2008 data
has been the greater emphasis on compliance to team travel reduction
targets and travel carbon budgets during 2009.
4. WORK PROGRAMME
3: LEADERSHIP AND
COMMUNICATIONS
4.1 Senior level commitment to the carbon
reduction target and associated activity has existed throughout
the lifespan of the project and has been critical in enabling
both the level of activity and high degree of staff buy-in and
engagement with the target.
4.2 Each individual member of the leadership
group publish their travel carbon footprints on the Natural England
intranet on a quarterly basis. From this information, staff can
see the commitment and changes being made at a senior level to
achieve the carbon reduction target.
4.3 Regular updates on progress towards
the target and other issues relating to the programme are communicated
to staff through a variety of media. A network of "Sustainability
Champion's is also active in both communicating but also facilitating
behavioural change in the work place.
4.4 Ownership of sustainability and the
carbon reduction target is placed at the individual level and
staff are encouraged to engage at all levels of the programme.
This can vary from submitting their view to emerging policies
through to actively participating in the organisational Sustainability
Champions Network. Sustainability and carbon targets are also
incorporated into the individual and team performance management
system.
4.5 A carbon "dashboard" is in
development on the Natural England intranet, showing progress
and performance with respect to office energy consumption and
business travel at the organisational, regional and team level.
A range of meeting planning tools, carbon calculators and other
information and advice is readily available to staff on the intranet.
5. CONCLUSIONS
5.1 The experience of Natural England shows
how setting an ambitious carbon reduction target with the commitment
of the Board and senior executive can drive significant carbon
reductions throughout an organisation within a short timescale.
5.2 Establishing a baseline, using a clear
and replicable methodology is essential to both being able to
measure progress but also in understanding the levers for change
within an organisation.
5.3 Working with landlords is essential
for enabling changes to the fabric of a building to reduce carbon
emissions. Engaging and working with staff is critical for achieving
changes in travel behaviour.
6. FURTHER COMMENTS
ON THE
CURRENT STATUS
OF "GREENING
GOVERNMENT"
6.1 There is a gap between the level of
ambition set for the UK by Government policy on climate change
and the level of ambition for Government itself as set within
the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate (SOGE) framework.
As the experience of Natural England demonstrates, there is considerable
scope for improving the energy performance of many public sector
buildings over a very short period through the use of proven technologies,
better building management and behavioural change.
6.2 NaturalEngland would support the introduction
of more ambitious targets around sustainable operations on the
Government estate, particularly on carbon emissions.
6.3 There is a role for carbon offsetting
and carbon credits in this process, but these should only be considered
once all value for money carbon reduction measures have been exhausted.
6.4 Reducing the carbon emissions of travel
requires a behavioural change. The setting of travel carbon budgets
within Natural England has already resulted in significant changes
in travel behaviours and increased use of tele and videoconferencing
with no loss of efficiency or levels of customer service. Similar
approaches could be implemented in other Government departments.
6.5 It has been clear from the Natural England
experience that senior level commitment to sustainability is essential
for driving down carbon emissions. Each Department should make
similar commitments to reducing its carbon emissions and set itself
realistic but ambitious targets in excess of the SOGE framework.
Progress should be reported on an annual basis, possibly to the
Minister for Transformational Government and be open to public
scrutiny.
April 2009
| 
