Measuring and reporting public sector greenhouse gas emissions – Report Summary

Summary

The government has stated its ambition for the public sector to lead by example during the UK’s transition to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions (emissions) by 2050. However, the current measurement and reporting arrangements for public sector emissions fail to allow Parliament or the public to understand how the public sector is progressing on decarbonisation and whether it is on track to meet its longer-term targets. Robust data can be used to prioritise action and assess whether policies are affordable. But inconsistent reporting of emissions data across the public sector makes it difficult to compare performance and risks undermining confidence in reported achievements.

Leadership and oversight of emissions reporting across government is split with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), HM Treasury and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) all playing a part. The guidance that they issue to other central government departments on how to measure and report emissions is too vague and as a result compliance across central government is low. Fewer than half of departments comply fully with the mandatory elements of HM Treasury’s reporting requirements. The three departments have done little to address this problem of non-compliance. Outside of central government, which accounts for the bulk of the public sector, there are currently no agreed reporting principles or standards. As a result, different parts of the public sector have been developing their own approaches to measuring and reporting their emissions data.

Despite the time and resources central government bodies are committing to measuring and reporting their emissions, we are not convinced that they, or the wider public sector, are making sufficient use of their emissions data to drive decision-making. We have seen little evidence that public bodies are using the data available to estimate the potential costs of decarbonising the sector, or to identify priorities and develop plans. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which has overall responsibility for delivering net zero, has done little to ensure that valuable learning and good practice, which could help public sector bodies reduce their emissions more efficiently, is shared more widely.