EEDA - East of England Development Agency

It is our ambition to become carbon neutral (or Carbon Balanced) by 2010. In order to achieve this we intend to use our Environmental Management System (EMS) to promote behavioural change throughout the organisation, and reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible. The remainder of this document sets out how we intend to do this and the results achieved so far. We also recognised the need to off-set our remaining emissions and are currently working with an off-setting provider. We will of course continue to reduce our carbon footprint, therefore gradually reducing the amount off-set year on year.

Our carbon footprint has been calculated using the principles of the Green House Gas (GHG) protocol, produced by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). The footprint considers the organisation as a whole, and includes direct emissions from the fuel used on site, emissions from the electricity we purchase and indirect emissions from staff travel.

We are using our 2006-07 footprint as a baseline for reduction. At the time our baseline was produced emissions from the fuel used on site were based on estimated bills and emissions from electricity use were based on meter readings. Sub metering did not exist for two of the three EEDA offices, and therefore the energy use which could be metered for one of the offices was doubled. This approximation reflected a similar price comparison.

We have been gradually improving the reliability of the data our footprint is based upon, which will inevitably have an impact on figures; however we will be open and honest about reporting these changes. Staff business travel currently includes car mileage and flights, but does not include travel by rail because the data does not exist. We intend to include this for 2009/10, along with staff commute to work. We also intend to include data on waste production and water use and would expect our carbon footprint to increase as a result of capturing these impacts.

We believe that this approach to carbon neutrality, which includes both internal reductions and carbon off sets, can provide the flexibility needed to achieve large, global emissions reductions.