Decision details

Cabinet considered a report on the progress made to date in delivering the North Tyneside Low Carbon Plan 2016-2027, adopted by Cabinet on 14 March 2016, which set out an ambitious target to reduce the carbon footprint of the Authority and the Borough of North Tyneside by 50% by 2027.  It sought to continue the Authority’s successful track record of reducing carbon emissions and protecting the environment.

The Authority had submitted an annual performance report to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) that detailed the year on year measurement of the Authority’s carbon footprint. This was also published on the Authority’s website and was attached as Appendix 1 to the report.  

At the end of 2017/18, the Authority’s carbon footprint had decreased by 39% since the baseline year of 2010/11. The 2018/19 report would be available in July 2019 and was anticipated to show a 47% reduction of the Authority’s carbon footprint. Given this current and projected performance, it was highly likely that the Authority would achieve the 50% reduction target in advance of the 2027 target date.

An annual report was provided to the Authority by BEIS detailing the carbon footprint of the Borough. The most recent report showed that between the baseline year of 2005 and 2016, absolute carbon emissions had decreased by 37% and carbon emissions per head of population had decreased by 40%. The publication date for the next annual report, showing 2017 performance, was June 2019.  The most recent data showed that the respective carbon footprints were: Authority – 18,166 tonnes of CO_2; Borough – 892,176 tonnes of CO_2.  The Authority had achieved this reduction in carbon emissions within its own operations, by following the Energy Hierarchy; reduction, efficiency, low carbon energy generation.  The report outlined actions that had been undertaken in respect of each of those stages of the energy hierarchy.

At the energy reduction stage, the Authority recognised the importance of effective energy management of its buildings and vehicles. This included the training of key staff in managing the consumption of energy, setting performance targets for reducing energy consumption and reducing the number of buildings and vehicles the Authority operated. At the energy efficiency stage, the Authority recognised the importance of using modern technology to reduce the energy it used in the delivery of services. At the energy generation stage the Authority recognised the potential to build on good energy reduction and energy efficiency practices through generating zero or low carbon energy as set out in the report.

The Authority had fewer levers to deliver carbon emission reductions across the Borough compared to its own estate, however there had still been significant achievements as detailed in the report.

The Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport highlighted just how important young people were, particularly when it came to influencing Cabinet thinking.  The Young Deputy Mayor also commented on how important the progress being made was and thanked everyone for making North Tyneside a great place to grow up. 

The Deputy Mayor thanked the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport for the positive work done and the young people for their contribution in providing their views and ideas into the Authority’s important work on this matter.  The Cabinet Member would be bringing a report to the Full Council meeting in July, to declare a climate emergency in North Tyneside, and setting out the actions the Authority would take to further reduce the carbon footprint of its operations and also plans to encourage and enable everyone in North Tyneside to contribute to an overall reduction in the Borough’s carbon footprint.  

Resolved that the content of the report and associated supporting information contained in Appendix 1 be noted.