New guidance has been launched for highway authorities on calculating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including Scope 3 emissions, in what has been hailed as a major milestone towards a much-needed standardisation.
The Carbon Calculation & Accounting Standard (CCAS) Carbon Reporting Guidance for Local Highways Authorities (GHG Scopes 1, 2 & 3) has been published by council directors’ body ADEPT and the Future Highways Research Group (FHRG), led by Proving Services.
The guidance will support LHAs in establishing their carbon footprint and supports the goals for reducing emissions set out in the Climate Change Committee’s Sixth Carbon Budget.
It was developed by the FHRG in 18-month project that drew in 19 commercial and supply chain partners from across the sector.
ADEPT said that with no standardisation for carbon accounting currently in place, the highways and transportation sector is starting to accept the need for harmonisation.
It said the guidance provides councils with comprehensive and straightforward advice enabling the detailed reporting of GHG emissions across highways’ construction and maintenance services.
ADEPT described the inclusion in the guidance of ‘notoriously difficult’ Scope 3 emissions resulting from supply chains, commercial partners and contractors as a major achievement for the FHRG.
Proving Services director Simon Wilson said: ‘A lack of standardisation in the UK highways sector has led to highly fragmented approaches to carbon measurement, accounting and reduction.
‘The CCAS document provides pragmatic, step-by-step guidance for LHAs and their supply chain partners in implementing the GHG protocols for measuring and reporting carbon emissions. Adopting the guidance will encourage sector-wide standardisation, enabling carbon benchmarking and informed decision-making for a low carbon future.'
ADEPT president Anthony Payne said: ‘Achieving net zero will not happen without the actions of local authorities and the decarbonisation of highways and infrastructure is key.
‘Being able to measure carbon emissions in a consistent and standardised way is critical to us successfully delivering against our ambitions.’
ADEPT said highway authorities will be able to capture the carbon impact of all work that is their responsibility across Scope 1, 2 and 3.
The guidance enables:
- comprehensive and consistent standards for carbon accounting for LHAs
- repeatable, transparent, and robust processes for undertaking emissions assessments including for both highways construction and highways maintenance
- proposed in-house processes for reducing the administrative overheads of carbon accounting
- the assessment of strategic carbon reduction options based on accurate carbon baseline assessments.
It added that the standardised approach will also ensure calculated emissions are comparable between different LHAs, regardless of how they deliver their services, whether in-house, outsourced or through a local authority trading company.
