Southend City Council produce a carbon footprint for the City, allowing us to baseline emissions and work together to reduce these towards our ambitious net zero target.
What is Carbon Footprinting?
According to the World Health Organisation, a carbon footprint is a measure of the impact your activities have on the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced through the burning of fossil fuels and is expressed as a weight of CO2 emissions produced in tonnes. This can be calculated at different levels, from an individual to a country or corporate level. Understanding consumption habits of a person, corporation etc., enables us to create a impactful route to net zero.
Why is it important?
It is important to have a baseline for emissions, so any fluctuations can be tracked. Southend’s carbon footprint allows us to understand where emissions are coming from and how they can be reduced. Measuring it enables us to address the climate change challenge with a whole-systems approach so we don’t simply shift the issue from one natural system to another. Reducing the carbon released into the atmosphere will help mitigate the effects of climate change, improve public health and boost the global economy among other things.
What does Southend’s carbon footprint show?
Southend City Council decided through our REMeDY project to complete a footprint for the City of Southend. It was an important step in our evidence-based approach to achieving our ambitious net zero target. This included three areas that produce the largest emissions: residential, commercial and transport emissions.
This work helps us to frame strategies and policies to reduce carbon emissions going forward.
The footprint shows that 5% of carbon emissions produced come from buildings and transport managed by Southend City Council and the remainder of the emissions are produced in the community. However, knowing the breakdown of emissions means we can work with communities and stakeholders to assist them in reducing their own emissions.
The data from Southend’s Carbon Footprint is available publicly, it further breaks down the key three areas into the individual areas that make up their total. On our Smart Southend website, you can explore EPC ratings, their potentials, CO2 emissions and energy efficiency for the City in more depth.