Are We Really Reducing the UK's Carbon Footprint?

Blog by Dr Stephen Allen

In the UK, we appear to have significantly reduced our impact on the climate since 1990, with our reported annual greenhouse gas emissions falling by 25% (2012).

But this isn’t a complete picture of our contribution to climate change, because it ignores the embodied carbon of all the stuff we import. When this is considered, are we really reducing the UK’s carbon footprint, and what are the implications for communities and businesses looking to lower their climate impact?

Direct Emissions – An Incomplete Picture

The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions are reported internationally on a “territorial” basis, describing the emissions we directly produce within UK territories. The approach is based on guidelines from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for international emissions reporting. It’s these territorial emissions that have reduced by 25% since 1990. Two major drivers of the reduction have been the shift from coal to gas-fired electricity generation (following privatisation) and the shift abroad of many manufacturing industries.

However, to support our lifestyles and businesses in the UK we have been importing an increasing amount of stuff, much more than we export. We need to add in the embodied carbon of our net imports to understand our full carbon footprint, also known as our ‘consumption-based’ emissions inventory.

The UK’s Full Carbon Footprint

The figure to the right, based on research from the University of Leeds, describes both our territorial and consumption-based emissions. It shows that UK consumption-based emissions actually grew by 16% over the period to 2007. Since then, and during recession, they have reduced to be 8% lower than 1990, but this is still nowhere near as good as the territorial emissions perspective suggests. In 2012, the full carbon footprint of the UK was a massive 50% larger than our territorial emissions suggest.

So while we have reduced our territorial emissions, we have increasingly shifted our ‘carbon burden’ abroad. This does not represent a true shift to a low carbon economy.

The territorial reporting approach is established for international reporting and target setting. But the full carbon footprint perspective provided by consumption-based reporting is clearly needed to determine whether the climate impact of our national activities really is falling. The good news is that Defra is continuing (for now) to publish the UK’s consumption-based emissions alongside our more established territorial accounts.

What This Means for UK Communities and Businesses

The scale of the climate challenge is such that we all need to play our part as communities and businesses. The case of UK emissions reporting is a national example of why a full ‘footprint’ perspective is needed: to ensure real reductions are achieved, rather than burdens simply shifted elsewhere.

While the research at Leeds University (and others) has recently allowed us to see the carbon footprint of whole nations, carbon footprinting in general is not new – it’s legacy stretches back to the late 1960s. But it has become increasingly established, codified and accessible to communities and businesses. More and more organisations are considering the full carbon footprint of their activities and products, in order to understand and truly reduce their impact on the climate. Some consider a wider range of environmental issues via full life cycle assessments.

The benefits of doing this can be wide ranging. First and foremost, organisations can ensure they are focusing efforts where their impacts are the greatest. There is also an increasing amount of evidence that shows they can also identify resource and cost saving opportunities, improve their reputation, differentiate their brand, respond to customer requirements, comply with reporting legislation and motivate employees, amongst other things.

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