Overview

Our ambition

We've committed to become ‘operationally net zero’ by 2030 for greenhouse gas emissions caused by council operations. ‘Net zero’ means to achieve a balance between the emissions produced and the emissions removed from the atmosphere. ‘Operationally’ refers to the activities the council is directly responsible for, such as heating and powering council buildings and fuel used in vehicles.

What we need to do

To get to operationally net zero, the council needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions where we can, through actions like making buildings more energy efficient and generating more energy locally.

We then need to ‘offset’ the remaining emissions that can’t be reduced. To offset emissions means to remove the same quantity of emissions elsewhere. This can be done through things like tree planting and meadow creation which absorb greenhouse gas emissions.

Where we're starting from

We have been measuring the council’s operational greenhouse gas emissions since 2018/19, which is our ‘baseline year’ (the year that we compare future years against).

We publish an annual greenhouse gas emissions report. This is in line with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard. Through our annual report, we:

  • monitor the council’s operational greenhouse gas emissions over time
  • detail what emissions are within our net zero boundary
  • share our progress against our 2030 target

The council’s greenhouse gas emissions have reduced by a third since 2018/19. However, our emissions are not yet reducing at a rate which will mean we will meet our 2030 target.

Where Stockport Council's greenhouse gas emissions come from

The council’s main sources of greenhouse gas emissions are:

  • the energy used in buildings
  • fleet vehicles (such as those used for bin collections)
  • street lighting
  • staff travel

Buildings: 71% of our emissions

We've already reduced emissions from buildings by 26%. We’ve done this by increasing energy efficiency, generating more renewable energy on our buildings, and through decarbonisation of the national grid. Buildings included are:

  • council offices
  • leisure centres
  • community buildings
  • museums
  • some schools

Fleet: 15% of our emissions

The council’s fleet (vehicles used for things such as bin collections) is managed by Totally Local Company (TLC). There's a plan in place to decarbonise the fleet starting with the use of biofuels.

Streetlighting: 13% of our emissions

33,000 streetlights have been fitted with energy-efficient LED light bulbs which reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 62%.

Corporate travel: 1% of our emissions

Enabled by hybrid working, emissions from council employees travelling for work have reduced by 70% in the last 6 years.

Corporate waste: less than 1% of our emissions

This includes waste and recycling generated in council-owned buildings.