Reducing carbon emissions

All institutions are required to have a carbon management plan (CMP) that contains the following:

• A carbon management policy or strategy – this could be part of a wider environmental or sustainability policy.
• A carbon baseline for 2005 which covers all scope 1 and 2 emissions. Institutions are encouraged to measure a baseline for scope 3 emissions, and in the longer term we would expect these to be included.
• Carbon reduction targets. These must:
  • cover scope 1 and 2 emissions, but institutions may choose to set additional targets for scope 3 emissions
  • be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound)
  • be set against a 2005 baseline. Institutions may chose to set their reductions in context by setting additional targets against an alternative baseline year
  • be set to 2020, because this is the timescale for interim government targets. Institutions may also set interim milestones
  • be publicly available.
• An implementation plan to achieve carbon emission reductions in scopes 1, 2 and 3 including timescales and resources. These should cover capital projects and actions to embed carbon management within the institution, for example, through corporate strategy, communication and training.
• Clear responsibilities for carbon management.
• A commitment to monitor progress towards targets regularly and to report publicly annually.
• The carbon management plan, including targets, must be signed off by the governing body.

Scope 3 emissions are indirect emissions that organisations produce through their activities, but occur from sources not owned or controlled by the organisation.  Examples of such activities include business travel, commuting, supply chain (procurement), waste and water. HEFCE expects carbon management plans to include arrangements for managing scope 3 emissions, and we have produced guidance to help institutions to measure scope 3 emissions.

From 2012-13 there will be provision in Estates Management Statistics (EMS) for the calculation of all Scope 3 emissions -  from water supply, wastewater treatment, waste, travel and supply-chain (procurement). The table below identifies which data is mandatory and who will undertake the emission calculations. The return of data in respect of waste emissions, travel and supply-chain (procurement) is recommended rather than mandatory, however this may change in the future.

Summary of Scope 3 Carbon Emissions – EMS Collection & Analysis 

	Mandatory	Emission calculations undertaken by
Water Supply	√	HESA
Wastewater Treatment	√	HESA
Waste	√	HEIs (Provision of the emission figures is not mandatory.)
Travel		HEIs
Supply Chain (Procurement)		Procurement consortia – and provided to HEIs for inclusion in EMS returns.

 

Institutions will be expected to have carbon management plans and to make reductions in carbon emissions.

 Requirements of the Capital Investment Framework 2 were to demonstrate absolute or relative reductions in carbon emissions since 1990 or 2005.

Carbon requirements under any future Capital Investment Framework are expected to be more demanding, probably requiring absolute reductions in scope 1 and 2 emissions. 

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has developed conversion factors to calculate carbon emissions for a given fuel. Institutions should use these conversion factors when calculating their carbon baselines and annual carbon emissions.

Institutions should check for future updates on the Defra web-site. These conversion factors are used for the Estates Management Statistics.  

The figures in Appendix A of the carbon management guide to good practice use net conversion factors based on the best information at the time.

More recent advice from the Department for Energy and Climate Change, Defra and SQW is that gross conversion factors should be used. These are available in the '2011 Guidelines to Defra / DECC's GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting'.

Yes residences that are the responsibility of the institution (that is, the institution pays the energy bill) fall within its scope 1 and 2 carbon footprint and therefore should be included in the carbon baseline and management plan.

We apply a common baseline year so that progress by the sector and individual institutions can be measured as consistently as possible. We use 2005 for reporting against UK government targets, and consultation with the sector confirmed that this was a suitable baseline year.

We recognise that some higher education institutions (HEIs) did not exist in their present form in 2005 and that others have re-organised significantly since then. We commissioned a report on carbon baselines which takes account of mergers, de-mergers and transfers.

We do not consider that changes since 2005 create a need to vary the 2005 baseline approach. All HEIs will change over time and a common baseline allows aggregate change to be measured. HEIs are free, however, to set additional baseline year(s) and target(s).

Where HEIs have significant doubts over the accuracy of the data used to assemble a 2005 baseline they have several options:

• an additional baseline year/s and target/s can be incorporated within the carbon management plan
• data for 2005 can be enhanced by the institution through research or estimation
• data for an alternative year(s) can be used as the 2005 baseline (preferably this would be data for an adjacent year).

Institutions should bear in mind that carbon targets and progress against them need to be reported publicly and they should adopt a reasonable and transparent approach. This may include information on the nature and scale of any concerns over the accuracy of 2005 data. 

This is not a requirement. The sector as a whole needs to meet the sector-level targets however the progress that individual higher education institutions can make will differ depending on their circumstances and level of ambition.

The Capital Investment Framework 2 asked for the targets so that we could form an overall picture of the sector's plans.

Institutions can change their 2005 baseline if it becomes possible to provide a more accurate figure.

Targets may also be changed, for example to reflect new circumstances, better information or advances in technology.

Institutions should bear in mind that carbon targets and progress against them need to be reported publicly and they should adopt a reasonable and transparent approach.

There is no need to report these changes directly to HEFCE. The Estates Management Statistics (EMS) record is being amended to include the scope 1 and 2 carbon baseline for 2005 and the carbon reduction target between 2005 and 2020.

 HEFCE will therefore be informed of any changes via EMS. This data will be collected so that we can form an overall picture of the sector’s progress and will first be collected in autumn 2013 for 2012-13. 

There are currently no financial penalties planned for institutions who do not meet their 2020 target.

Our approach under the Capital Investment Framework 2 is to consider carbon reductions made and processes for managing emissions. We expect to adopt a similar approach in the future, rather than just looking at whether targets have been achieved.

Requirements under any future Capital Investment Framework are expected to be more demanding, probably requiring absolute reductions in scope 1 and 2 emissions.

Institutions should also bear in mind that carbon targets and progress against them need to be reported publicly.

Institutions may choose to review their targets in the light of any changes in projections for grid decarbonisation.

Institutions should bear in mind that carbon targets and progress against them need to be reported publicly and they should adopt a reasonable and transparent approach.

In June 2011 the Department of Energy and Climate Change advised that under the Defra guidance for measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions organisations are able to claim an emissions reduction from renewable electricity projects which benefit from Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) or Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs).

To align with Defra greenhouse gas company reporting guidance and the Carbon Trust's Higher Education Carbon Management Programme, reductions arising from such projects can count towards institutional carbon targets. Institutions are reminded that accounting policies under the Carbon Reduction Commitment are different to this. 

No, institutions are not able to include emission reductions from the purchase of carbon offsets in the calculation of their carbon emissions.

Yes. Defra guidance on reporting greenhouse gas emissions states that organisations may report an emissions reduction in its reported new CO₂e figure for any renewable electricity that it has generated and exported to the national grid or a third party at the 'Grid Rolling Average' factor.

The amount reported in this way should not exceed your actual electricity use. A worked example is contained in Box 1 (page 53) of 'Guidance on how to measure and report your greenhouse gas emissions' (Defra, September 2009)