Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 5
Twenty-Third Report - Measuring and reporting public sector greenhouse gas emissions
Published 2 Nov 2022
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Measuring and reporting public sector greenhouse gas emissions All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The public sector risks falling behind on the reporting of its emissions but could learn from developing practice in private sector and the devolved administrations. While the UK government has committed to leading by example in efforts to decarbonise, other sectors and the devolved administrations are already doing more to promote fuller reporting of emissions. Parts of the private sector are seeking to measure and report on the indirect emissions attributable to their operations, known as scope 3 emissions, for example arising from goods and services purchased from external suppliers. The centre of government has not mandated public sector bodies in England to report their scope 3 emissions which can, in some cases, be large. Some central government bodies have taken the initiative to report their scope 3 emissions on a voluntary basis and the NHS has taken steps to promote the reporting of scope 3 emissions, but elsewhere in the public sector reporting is patchy. This means that much of the data currently published does not capture the full carbon impact of the public sector’s activities. By contrast, firms bidding for government contracts worth more than £5 million already have to report scope 3 emissions more fully and it is expected that all large private sector firms will be Measuring and reporting public sector greenhouse gas emissions 7 required to give greater consideration to scope 3 emissions from 2025. The devolved administrations in Wales and Scotland have taken steps to increase the scope of public sector emissions reporting to include more scope 3 emissions. Recommendation: BEIS and HM Treasury should ensure that the reporting requirements placed on the public sector are aligned with their objective to lead by example in delivering net zero. This should include consideration of which bodies should report their scope 3 emissions and how best this should be done. 8 Measuring and reporting public sector greenhouse gas emissions 1 Measuring and reporting
From: Public Accounts Committee, Twenty-Third Report - Measuring and reporting public sector greenhouse gas emissions (HC 39), 2 November 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 24 February 2023 (deadline 2 January 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it agrees with each of the Committee's five recommendations on measuring and reporting public sector emissions, while setting out qualifications on how some will be delivered.
- On standards for measuring and reporting, the government agrees, but says this "may not entail a uniform approach consistency across the whole of the large and varied sector", so detailed guidance may stay with bodies best placed to advise.
- It commits to set out a timetable for further work towards a coherent measurement and reporting framework in summer 2023, which "will be dependent on views from other relevant authorities across the public sector".
- On consolidating guidance, it agrees guidance should be aligned "where possible" but "notes" that different documents may be required for different purposes. BEIS has commissioned work to signpost relevant guidance, to be published in early 2023.
- On scope 3 emissions, work to develop the next set of GGCs targets "will consider if and how" further reporting requirements should be included, taking place throughout 2023-25, with a target implementation date of Autumn 2025.