Reporting our carbon emissions

Cheltenham Borough Council (CBC) declared a climate emergency in 2019 and committed to becoming a net zero council by 2030. This means that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relating to the council’s production and consumption activities will need be reduced to almost zero. The primary focus is the reduction of scope 1 and 2 emissions.

Currently, there is no requirement for Local Authorities to report on their organisational carbon footprint. CBC, however, is committed to its net zero aims and the actions detailed in the Climate Emergency Action Plan, and as part of this publishing our annual carbon footprint which informs progress towards the CBC target. Our climate emergency action plan was updated during 2024. Continuing to refine our plan to 2030 to include costs and milestones to address remaining scope 1 and 2 emissions, with mitigation for residual emissions, alongside a strategic approach to address scope 3 emissions, remains a key enabler.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are the primary driver of global climate change. There are several less well-known greenhouse gases such as methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). These various greenhouse gases have different global warming potentials in the atmosphere which, for ease, are converted into a single metric of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e). This unit of measurement is utilised throughout the action plan.

In line with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ, 2023) reporting guidance, the collated emissions are categorised into Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions as detailed below:

Table 1: Definition of scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.
Category	Description	Source
Scope 1	Direct emissions as a result of burning fossil fuels	Gas usage within council, Ubico, Cheltenham Trust sites, miscellaneous properties and vehicle fleet gas/fuel use
Scope 2	Indirect emissions from purchasing energy for operations	Metered electricity use for council, Ubico, Cheltenham Trust sites and miscellaneous properties
Scope 3	All other quantifiable indirect emissions produced in relation to the organisational activity	Staff commuting and business travel, water usage, procurement, 50% of airport electricity and ground operations, transmission and distribution of electricity

You can view our carbon reports below:

Council carbon emissions reports list