Legislation & Market Update
Dr Wendy Buckley
Carbon Footprint Ltd
01256 592599
wendy.buckley@carbonfootprint.com

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Who is it?

over 1,400 local governments in 28 countries
have made climate emergency declarations
SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Southwood
RewildingBlack Dam Planting

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Environmental Fines• 2019 Environmental fines - £2.8m• Majority were Enforcement Undertakings - £2.1m– Voluntary donations instead of fines• Continued focus on waste crime– 912 illegal waste sites closed down
– 77 waste crime prosecutions (£440k fines and 8 prison sentences)• Key case – Bob’s Skips fined £25,000– Hires waste vehicles– Failed to notice imposter or identify fake waste notes– Therefore fly tipping was considered to have occurred under his duty of care

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Environmental Fines• Enforcement Undertaking – money is voluntarily given to environmental
schemes rather than given fine
– United Utilities Water Limited – Discharging matter or effluent that is poisonous or injurious
to fish, spawn, spawning areas or food of fish - £264,000 to the Eden Rivers Trust– Wessex Water Services Limited – Operating without a permit - £200,000 split between
Severn Estuary Partnership and Cardiff University, Surfers Against Sewage, Somerset
Catchment Partnership and Avon Wildlife Trust– Tarmac Aggregates Limited – failing to comply to permit - £200,000 split between the
Creswell Heritage Trust and the RSPB

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Environmental Fines• Southern Water 2019 £126 million fine update:– for “serious failures” in its sewage treatment works and for deliberately misreporting
its performance– Southern Water will pay most of the Ofwat penalty – £123m – to customers as arebate through their bills. Every customer will receive £61, with £17 in 2020-21 and£11 in each of the following four years.
– As of October - Southern Water is also subject to ongoing criminal investigations by
the Environment Agency.
– 8 employees have been convicted of obstructing the collection of data by theEnvironment Agency, which was investigating raw sewage spilled into rivers and onbeaches in south-east England, although two of the convictions were overturned thisyear on appeal.

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Any one for Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme
Phase 3?
• Phase dates:– 6 December 2019 – 5 December 2023

• Qualification date:– 31 December 2022

• Qualification criteria:– >250 employees or– Turnover £44m and balance sheet £38m (now fixed in UK Sterling)• Total energy consumption reference period:– 1 January 2022 – 5 December 2023

• Cedrec - currently believes is still in the cards

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Streamlined Energy & Carbon Reporting (SECR) &Implications• Reporting years starting from 1 April 2019

• Replacement of Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting (MGHG)– First reports must be published in 2020 within annual reports– LLPs (who are not required to publish an annual report) must prepare a new report called “TheEnergy and Carbon Report”.

• Company or LLP qualifies if satisfies two or more of the following
requirements: (exempt if use <40MWh of energy)– Turnover £36 million or more
– Balance sheet total £18 million or more
– Number of employees 250 or more

• No currently defined fines for SECR – yet …

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR)• Those already in MGHG reporting / FSTE main market– Report their global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and an intensity ratio. (Scope 1 and 2 andbusiness travel via rental and employee owned cars)– Report global energy use (energy, fuel and grey fleet)– Report energy efficiency action taken alongside the methodology used to calculate the new andexisting disclosure requirements.
• could potentially be moving towards reporting progress on ESOS or replacing ESOS

• Other large entities / LLPs
– Report their UK energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions for gas, electricity andtransport fuel– Report an intensity ratio and information relating to energy efficiency action• From year 2 , reporting must include the previous year’s data

• Enforced by The Conduct Committee of the Financial Reporting Council
SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

End of the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC)• Last phase ended April 2019
– Registry still open until March 2022
– Accounts closed from April 2022
– List of participants until 2025

• Changes to CCL and CCA from April 2019 to compensate
Fuel Type

Rate from 1st Apr 19

Increase

CCA rate

Electricity

0.00847+45%

93% (previously 90%)

Natural Gas

0.00339+65%

78% (previously 65%)

• UK Government Consultation on Carbon Tax– Mostly for if no deal Brexit (and therefore not part of EU-ETS)

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Environment Legislation• Changes to EU WEEE Open Scope– Now changed from listing to what EEE is WEEE toonly listing what is exempt – ‘it is in unless it’s out’
– UK has yet to implement• F-gas ban from Jan 2020
– Ban on servicing of HFC with GWP >2500
within 40tCO2e annual systems• Not too much changed has occurred as theGovernment may have been distracted…

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Brexit• EU Withdrawal Act passed• EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill passed• UK will leave the EU on 31 January 2020:– Political institutions and contributory regime• UK in “Implementation Phase” until 31 December 2020:– Agreed ongoing application of EU laws
– Continuing commitment to implement Directives– Review based on “national interest”• Any future dates in retained law will apply if in force on date of leaving, even if futuredate

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Environmental Bill
• Framework controls:– Changes to waste management (Resource and Waste Strategy)– Legally binding targets for PM2.5 (Clean Air Strategy)– Requirements for net biodiversity gain
– Sustainable water resources (25 Year Environment Plan commitments)• Status:– Draft from October 2019 ‘not reserved’ (has to be processed again)– Announced in Queen’s Speech December 2019• None of the 2019 planned changes occurred!

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Packaging Waste Reform• Extended producer responsibility to full net cost of household waste recovery costs– Producers: handle 50 tonnes of packaging materials or packaging in a calendar year

• Current scheme generates £70M pa for local authorities• Proposal: increases significantly £500M - £1,000M• Incentives for better design:– Driven by market fees (related to recyclability) or Deposit (producer) for recyclable / fee for nonrecyclable

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Packaging Waste Reform• UK Government ‘planning’ to create mandatory digital waste tracking regime• Phase 2 of Govtech Catalyst challenge• £1m seed funding issued to two selected prototype plans:– Anthesis: Use QR codes on mobile devices to record ID of consignments– Topolytics: data from range of apps and sensors (RFID) on waste containers or vehicles

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Clean Air Strategy• Policy objectives:– Extended control to businesses with 500 kW to 1 MW combustion plant controls– Aviation, maritime (by 2050) and rail (by 2040) diesel phase out planning– Household PM2.5 enforcement (discussion on removal of coal burning fires)• Targets (2005 baseline):– PM10 and PM 2.5 target of 30% reduction by 2020 and 46% by 2030
– Nox target 55% reduction by 2020 and 73% by 2030
– SO2 59% reduction by 2020 and 88% by 2030

• Recent stats:– 160K UK deaths predicted due poor air quality over next decade– 17% increased chance of asthma from exposure at young age– 20% of PM2.5 pollution at roadside is from brake pads

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Clean Air Strategy• UK plan for roadside nitrogen dioxide reduction:– Clean Air Zones (local authorities)– Welsh Clean Air Zone
– Scottish Low Emissions Zones• Clean Air Zone:– Certain vehicles pay fees to drive within the zone

• Low Emissions Zones:– Certain vehicles can’t drive there

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Clean Air Strategy Being Rolled out in Big Cities• London– ULEZ - Central London from 8 April 2019
– All inner London from 25 October 2021
– Non-compliant below: Euro 4 Petrol (January 2006)/ Euro 6 Diesel (September 2015)– Cars / vans £12.50 per day– Lorries / buses £100 per day• Bristol (needs government approval)– Commercial vehicle clean air zone from March 2021:– Proposal for £9/100 (Bus/HGV) p/d charge– Non-compliant below: Euro 4 Petrol (January 2006) / Euro 6 Diesel (September 2015)– Additional private diesel ban (7am to 3pm daily):– Subject to fine (proposal £60 - £120 > 4 days payment)– Car scrappage scheme– A number plate recognition system, similar to the one used to police London's congestion charge
will be used

Clean air strategies also proposed in Birmingham, Belfast, Cardiff, Tyneside, Greater
Manchester and Sheffield
SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Upcoming EU Directives• Landfill Directive:– Part of Circular Economy package– Strengthen targets on landfill restriction– Maximum 10% landfill by 2035 (currently at 24.4%)– No recycling waste to landfill by 2030

• Energy Efficiency Directive:– Provision of charging points for EVs– 10 spaces = 1 charging point– Ducting infrastructure for 1 in 5 future install– Existing > 20 spaces = 1 charging point by 2025

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Airlines - CORSIA• Carbon Offsetting Scheme for International Aviation• Aims for carbon neutral growth from 2020.
• CORSIA’s obligations have already started. As of 1 January 2019, all carriers (withemissions greater than 10,000 tCO2e) are required to report their emissions on anannual basis.
• It is anticipated that CORSIA will mitigate around 2.5 billion tonnes of CO2e between
2021 and 2035.
• During the initial phases, CORSIA will only apply to international flights between
states that have volunteered to take part, meaning that international flights to andfrom states that have not volunteered will be exempt.
• During the mandatory stage, which begins in 2027, CORSIA will cover all
international flights (including those travelling to or from states that had notvolunteered for the early phases).

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Airlines - CORSIA

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Electric Vehicles - It’s Happening• ULEVs through salary sacrifice are exempt from income tax and NI. Money can also be
saved through the OLEV grant and as of April 2020, EVs are exempt from Benefit inKind (BIK) tax.
• Benefit in Kind are benefits which employees or directors receive from theiremployment but which are not included in their salary cheque or wages.
• In 2019 10% of new car sales were EV or hybrid vehicles, Dec 2019 it was 15%

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Retail Packaging• ASDA is trialling refillable stations– Starts in May– At the Leeds branch will have refill stations for own brand rice and pasta, as well as Kellogg's
cereals and PG Tips.
– loose produce such as cucumbers or mushrooms will be available without any plastic packaging– Will also house a “naked florist”– Follows on from Waitrose’s refills for wine, beer, cleaning materials, and loose fruit and vegetables
free from packaging across four stores after a trial at its Botley Road shop in Oxford – now being
tested across 3 other stores.

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Resources• List of Enforcement Undertakings accepted by the Environment Agency:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-environment-agencys-use-of-civilsanctions/enforcement-undertakings-accepted-by-the-environment-agency• CORSIA fact sheet:https://www.iata.org/contentassets/fb745460050c48089597a3ef1b9fe7a8/corsia-factsheet.pdf• https://www.climateemergency.uk/blog/map-of-local-council-declarations/• https://www.goultralow.com/ev-charging-point-map/• https://www.carbonfootprint.com/secr.html#

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

While the world will need to reach net zero, those of us who can afford to move faster and go
further should do so. That’s why today we are announcing an ambitious goal and a new plan
to reduce and ultimately remove Microsoft’s carbon footprint.
By 2030 Microsoft will be carbon negative, and by 2050 Microsoft will remove from theenvironment all the carbon the company has emitted either directly or by electricalconsumption since it was founded in 1975.
SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

What is Carbon Offsetting?
• Carbon offsetting = financially supporting carbon reduction projects around the world that
reduce greenhouse gas emissions

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Other Terms you may have heard• Carbon Neutral = Carbon Offsetting to balance out / compensate for all youremissions• Net Zero Carbon = same as Carbon Neutral• Carbon Negative (or Positive) = Offsetting more emissions than you produce• Zero Carbon = reducing your emissions to zero (without the need to offset)

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Offsetting is…

… a mechanism to enable you to contribute to global Climate
Change Solutions

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Renewable Energy – Wind Power

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Renewable – Small Hydropower

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Renewable – Geothermal Power

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Renewable - Solar Power

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Reducing Deforestation (REDD)

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Landfill Gas - Methane Capture

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Energy Efficiency – Efficient Cookstoves

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Energy Efficiency – Solar Cookers

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Energy Efficiency & Clean Drinking Water

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Test of a good Carbon Offsetting Project• Emission Reductions need to:– Be Additional (to business as usual – require additional funding to happen)– Be Measurable– Be Verifiable– Be Permanent– Avoid leakage (stopping emissions being moved to another place)– Avoid double counting

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Leading Offset Project Standards

•
•
•
•

Provide Methodologies for projects to follow
Validation process
Ongoing Verification (by independent verifiers)
Issuance of Carbon Credits– 1 Carbon Credit = 1 tonne of CO2e saved

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Documentation for projects• Registration Documents– Project Description Document (PDD)– Validation Documents• Credit Issuance Document– Verification Documents– Monitoring Report– Issuance Deeds

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Carbon Registries
•
•
•
•
•

Registry accounts to hold issued carbon credits
Allow transition of ownership (e.g. Project developer to Carbon Offset Provider)
Allow credits to be retired /cancelled (e.g. on behalf of the end customer)
Allow transparency (publicly viewable)
Audit trail (showing retirement, serial numbers, verification documentation etc.)

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Quality Assurance Standard (QAS) for carbon
offsetting• The Quality Assurance Standard (QAS) is acomprehensive independent audit system.
• QAS-approved products are checked against a 40 point
checklist to ensure they meet the very highest
standards in the world.
• Carbon Footprint Ltd was one of the first companies toachieve QAS Approved carbon offsets• https://qasaudit.com/

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Funding and costs of projects• Not all projects cost the same amount of money per tonne of CO 2
• Costs also vary from one country to another• Different project technologies have very different financial models– Efficient Cookstoves are sometimes provided to homes for free and other times for a nominal cost to thehousehold– Limited additional funding for Land Fill Gas projects or Reducing Deforestation Projects– Wind Farm may also generate funds from selling energy back onto the grid

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Is renewable energy cheaper than fossil fuelenergy now?

Ref: Wood Mackenzie, August 2019
Summary : https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/chinas-renewables-cost-to-fall-below-coal-power-by-2026
SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

What about tree planting?

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Why Tree Planting is often the offset project
people first considered…
• Tree planting is great– It can be done locally– Improves air quality– Engage stakeholders (get them involved in planting)– Provides habitats and corridors for wildlife– It is visible– Beautifies the local area
– Investment into the local area

• What can be wrong with tree planting?

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Trees sometimes come under criticism for carbon
offsetting…
• They take a long time to grow and sequester carbon• They may fail• They have a limited life (many trees species have a life
expectancy of <60 years) – so what happens at the end of
the life of the tree?
• How can you guarantee the tree / woodland will be there
for thousands of years (ideally forever)?
• Difficult to measure the amount of carbon actually
sequestered• Hard to verify & guarantee the permanent carbon benefits

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

There is another issue… it needs a lot of space
Q. How big would a woodland need to be to sequester the whole of Basingstoke & Deane’s
carbon footprint?

The above map shows the area of Basingstoke & Deane (about 630km 2)

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Answer…
• About double the whole area of all of Basingstoke & Deane

X2
SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

We should still plant trees though …
• Plant trees locally and support internationally verified carbon offsetting projects as well
– Climate Change can only be mitigated with a Globally focused effort and Globally focused solutions

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Don’t forget

Offsetting is just part of the toolset in tackling climate change
We also need to:
1. Reduce our emissions as much as possible
2. Support “Local” Renewable energy– Switch to a green tariff– Generate your own (install some Solar PV panels)

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Offsetting vs Reduction• Carbon Offsetting– Accounts for all your emissions– Allows you to supports global
climate change solutions– Quick– Relatively cheap - but no direct
financial return– Strong marketing advantage –allowing Net Zero Carbon claims– Additional costs relating toemissions – often creates more
appetite to reduce emissions fasteras well

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd• Carbon Reduction– Ignores emissions already caused– Reduces your contribution to theclimate change problem– Slow– Requires more investment, but will
should give a financial return fromenergy savings– Strong marketing advantage if you
can show significant success in
reducing emissions© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Carbon Offsetting + Carbon Reduction

Both solutions go hand in hand

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Climate Change needs Rapid Global Solutions• You can be part of the solution• Reducing your energy use and carbon emission is a good thing to do– However, reducing by a few % a year is not fast enough• More and more organisations are becoming Carbon Neutral / Net Zero Carbon• Companies, Councils, Countries and Continents are setting Net Zero Carbon Targets

Your business can do this too
And you need to do it Now!

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020

Questions?
John BuckleyManaging Director, Carbon Footprint Ltd
john.buckley@carbonfootprint.com

SBN – Carbon Offsetting 28th February 2020
Carbon Footprint Ltd© Carbon Footprint Ltd 2020©SaintGobain
Ecophon Group
Ecophon © Ecophon Group

Ecophon Carbon FootprintPeter Hibbett – EHS Manager

© Ecophon Group

Stakeholder requirements• Green Build credentials• Environmental credentials ISO14001:2015• Safety credentials• LCA or CTC (ISO14044) Life Cycle Assessment, Cradle to Cradle• EPD (ISO14025, 14040) Environmental Product Declaration• Sustainable resourcing (BES 6001)• Equal Opportunities• Fairness, Inclusion and Respect© Ecophon GroupHow this helps our company.
ISO 14064
Carbon footprint verification, to allow offset of company’s CO2 footprint for the offices and external sales.
ISO14001 showing ongoing improvements, (even if it shows reevaluation to higher amounts shows improved reporting).
Energy - reduction helps drive plans for reduction or alternative supplies, helps with understanding different usage(lighting, heating, computers etc) and how to reduce these and give a sustainable and monetary substantiation. Lees
maintenance visits and working at height

Water - Wrap standard is basic but helps understand water usage/leakage.
Fuel - Vehicles starts people looking at the type of company car or delivery vehicles of the future ,driving courses

Waste - carriers and recycling improvements, (bailing machine, segregation)
Product - shows any problems in supply chain for sustainability, paths for improvement
Alternative transport – flights, train, grey fleet, WebEx

© Ecophon GroupISO 14064 Carbon Footprint Offsetting• Neutralising our impact from the offices and the salespeople.
• Stakeholder involvement with planting at schools• Sending a clear message of our intentions• 5 years 631 tonnes CO2 Offset - reduced from 227 tonne to 93 (including Green energy)© Ecophon GroupLighting an Example of Energy reduction

Started in 2013 with lighting 27500 watts
2019= 13000 watts pay back around 19 months
This year replacing 90% of remainder = 5500 watts Lighting