Pilot 5: Why UK Public Sector?

Pilot 5 Locale: Why UK?

• Convenience: See Through Carbon is UK-based
• Contacts: See Through Carbon’s network of advisors, pro bono Experts and volunteer administrators has particularly strong connections with various British public bodies, businesses, media, NGOs etc.
• Pioneer: Government-funded bodies are the first entities obliged to comply with new regulations making carbon reporting a legal requirement. From April 2023 more and more bodies within the public sector, and their supply chains, are now required to submit Carbon Reduction Plans (CRPs).
• Scale: The UK’s local authorities, educational institutions, health system, social care etc are not only significant employers themselves, but also have a vast network of suppliers, whose carbon footprints must now be included in their Scope 3 emissions reporting. With limited funds, See Through Carbon’s free, accurate carbon footprint measurement, and capacity to automatically aggregate emissions from complex supply chains, is particularly attractive.

Pilot 5 Scope: Why Public Sector?

• Links to SMEs: The UK spends slightly more of its GDP on public services than the European average. A trillion-odd pounds is disbursed via local governments, with more and more of its huge range of services ultimately delivered by outsourced SMEs, the focus of Pilot 1, and the NHS, the focus of Pilot 4. By tracking the interconnections between the Pilots, See Through Carbon can measure its network effect.
• Biggest emitters: According to OECD research, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) generate up to 70% of total global business emissions. SMEs produce twice as much carbon as big businesses, but can’t afford to pay commercial standards on consultants. By focusing on this neglected sector, See Through Carbon can deliver its goal of measurable carbon reduction by addressing neglected sectors..
• Motivated for compliance: Public sector bodies and their supply chain have a particularly direct motivation to comply with new government regulation. Providing hard data, via accurate, verifiable, auditable reports and reduction plans, is an increasingly important KPI to demonstrate the public sector is playing its part in meeting national carbon reduction commitments.
• Limited resources: All public sector bodies and their SME suppliers are struggling to budget for this additional compliance, with limited access to commercial carbon auditing and consultancy. A free ecosystem serves an important public fiscal function by providing free carbon footprint measurement.

Pilot 5 Methods: How To Calculate Public Sector Footprints accurately?

• Methodology: See Through Carbon describes the methodologies it uses for different Pilots in detail on its website, updating them whenever they are improved. For Pilot 5, STC is following the GHGP carbon footprint protocols specified in the UK Government’s Carbon Reduction Plan, now mandatory for most publicly-funded entities, from primary schools to care homes.
• Dynamic improvement: As a free, open, transparent ecosystem, See Through Carbon makes all its methodology public, publishes correspondence with regulators regarding compliance, and encourages public scrutiny. The Expert Panel determining STC methodology is motivated purely by accuracy, not commercial concerns about arriving at ​‘acceptable’ outcomes. This enables STC to incorporate best practice, and new research, and give participants confidence they’re ​‘ahead of the game’ when it comes to carbon reporting.

Pilot 5 Partners: Who might collaborate?

• Comprehensive: The interlinked nature of carbon reporting, with every supplier and end user part of any customer’s Scope 3 calculation, means that in principle it doesn’t matter where to start, i.e. which entity, or connected entities, should make the initial application. Accurate calculation of any one entity’s Scope 3 emissions requires the accurate calculation of all parts of its upstream and downstream suppliers/​customers.
• Consistency: Ultimately, all levels and strands of any hierarchy are interconnected, and all will benefit from consistently applying the same methodology.

Pilot 5 applicants might want to consider how best to administer Pilot trials, at a scale that suits their administrative structures, e.g., which hierarchy level to register as the initiating entity.

In general, the bigger the entity, the more complex the supply chain. For accurate reporting, the more downstream suppliers participate, the more accurate, granular, credible and useful the resulting Carbon Reduction Plan will be.