Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 16
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)
Robust data can be used to prioritise action and assess whether policies are affordable, but we are not convinced that departments are making sufficient effective use of the emissions data that they are already collecting and reporting. We asked BEIS, HM Treasury and Defra how they were using their own emissions data to inform policy and were not convinced that they were using it to full effect. HM Treasury noted that it had focused on reducing the number of business flights taken and the amount of paper it uses.38 It also confirmed that a major reason it had achieved emissions reduction targets in the past was because of wider work to decarbonise electricity generation in the UK.39 BEIS told us it had reduced emissions by 81%, but in terms of actions only mentioned installing solar panels, installing energy efficient light bulbs and setting up energy monitoring software.40
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.