Oxford City Council achieved an annual reduction of 6% in carbon emissions in 2023/24 - with annual emissions for the organisation totaling 5,581 tCO2e – this is a 27% reduction in emissions compared with its baseline (2019/20) levels.
Each year, the Council publishes its annual Greenhouse Gas Emissions report which measures the annual greenhouse gas emissions which includes energy and water use, fuel used in our fleet and emissions associated with business travel.
Since 2014/15, the Council has a ‘Business as Usual’ emission reduction of 5%, which has been tracked since carbon reporting began. However, the Council has a target to become net zero carbon across its own operations by 2030. In order to achieve this, the Council aims to reduce emissions by 10% each year against 2019/20 levels as a baseline.
The latest data - which covers the period of 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 - shows a 6% decrease in the Council’s greenhouse gas emissions when compared to 2022/2023 levels, dropping from 5,994 tonnes in 2022/23 to 5,581 tonnes in 2023/24. This is a one percentage point improvement on last year’s reported annual decrease of 5%.
Measures to reduce emissions
In the 2023/2024 reporting year, the Council has introduced a variety of decarbonisation projects across its estate to reduce emissions at its buildings, including introducing a low emissivity ceiling at Oxford Ice Rink; energy efficient showers at two of the Council leisure centres; and a LED switch out at one of the Council’s depots.
Other key activities includes utilising Sport England Funding to install energy efficient showers, LEDs and additional solar at Barton Leisure Centre; and pushing on with the Council’s ongoing LED replacement programme.
Looking ahead, work to continue to reduce emissions includes: exploring the feasibility for a potential city centre heat network, optimising installed batteries across leisure sites, commissioning a long-term Energy Procurement Review, and more.
Tackling Oxford’s carbon emissions
Alongside its work to reduce its own emissions, the Council is working closely with large businesses and organisations in the city as part of the Zero Carbon Oxfordshire Partnership, including the universities and hospitals, to tackle city-wide carbon emissions.
Members of the Zero Carbon Oxfordshire Partnership are working towards achieving net zero carbon emissions across the city as a whole by the year 2040, and across Oxfordshire by 2050.
Comment
"I am pleased that we are continuing to reduce our carbon emissions as an organisation and that we have achieved a 27% decrease against our set baseline (2019-20), and have saved the Council £0.5m annually in energy savings since 2009.
"We publish this annual data to be transparent and open about our journey to net zero and the work we are doing to address the climate emergency. As an organisation we are responsible for just 1% of Oxford’s carbon emissions, however we remain committed to achieving our 2030 goal and introducing meaningful carbon reduction measures to reach this target.”
Councillor Anna Railton, Deputy Leader, and Cabinet Member for a Zero Carbon Oxford
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