Devon County Council adopts latest Carbon Reduction Plan

The County Council’s Cabinet has agreed its Carbon Reduction Plan 2024–2027 and adopted its Low Carbon Supply Chain Strategy 2024–2026.

Councillors have taken steps to enable Devon County Council and its suppliers to continue to reduce carbon emissions.

The County Council’s Cabinet has agreed its Carbon Reduction Plan 2024–2027 and adopted its Low Carbon Supply Chain Strategy 2024–2026.

Devon County Council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and the reduction of carbon emissions is a priority for the Council.

The authority has made good progress towards its target to reach net-zero by 2030 (a 70% absolute reduction in corporate emissions with the remainder, including those in the supply chain, being offset).

Carbon emissions in 2022/23 were 56% lower than in 2012/13 thanks to a number of measures including retrofitting of nine council buildings, the roll-out of LED lights on streetlighting and traffic signals and upgrading some of its vehicle fleet to electric vehicles.

The Carbon Reduction Plan sets out ambitious proposals for further carbon savings over the next three years through retrofitting more council buildings, completing the upgrade of LED streetlighting, encouraging school transport providers to switch to electric vehicles, and installing more electric vehicle charging points.

The adoption of the Low Carbon Supply Chain Strategy 2024–2026 will aim to address the level of carbon emissions from the Council’s supply chain, which is roughly 19 times larger than the corporate carbon footprint directly controlled by the authority.

Currently, 20% of the authority’s spend is covered by a net-zero target, but the strategy aims to increase this to 50% by the end of March 2026.

The Council will improve its carbon data capture systems, using tools being developed in its Highways Carbon Reduction Project and potentially rolling it out to other service areas and suppliers.

Suppliers will be supported to report the carbon emissions related to the delivery of their contract, goods or services, and data collection from suppliers will need to be in a consistent format to ensure a more accurate picture of emissions.

Councillor Andrea Davis, Devon County Council Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment and Transport, said: “For a large rural county we've done extremely well and we’ve risen to the challenge, but we’re determined to build on this success with the Carbon Reduction Plan and our Low Carbon Supply Chain Strategy. We’re ambitious and we’re continuing to look for opportunities to exceed our targets, particularly as the carbon footprint from our suppliers is 19 times larger than DCC’s footprint, which is something we need to tackle.”

Councillor Phil Twiss, Devon County Council Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “As a major employer and contractor of services in Devon, I’m delighted that we are leading by example with this strategy, hopefully encouraging others to do the same. Although the County Council doesn't have direct control over the companies in our supply chain, through the actions set out in our strategy we have an opportunity to help influence and reduce their impact on the environment while carrying out work for and on behalf of the council.”