Emissions reporting for the year ending 30 June 2024

• The office of the PCE is committed to operating in an emissions and energy-efficient environment. While it is not mandatory for the office to meet the requirements of the Carbon Neutral Government Programme we wish to monitor our emissions and, where possible, minimise them.

  Our emissions have been independently verified by Toitū Envirocare (Enviro-mark Solutions Ltd) in line with ISO 14064-3:2019. A copy of our Toitū carbonreduce certification disclosure can be viewed on the Toitū website.

  This is the second year of reporting under the Toitū carbonreduce programme. An absolute reduction in category 2 and 4 emissions of 1.26 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent was achieved against base year (2022/23). There has been an overall increase in emissions from base year (attributable to category 3 emissions).

  Table: Inventory of emissions for the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment in 2023 and 2024.

  Category (ISO 14064-1:2018)	Scopes (ISO 14064-1:2006)	2023 (tCO2e)	2024 (tCO2e)
  Category 1: Direct emissions	Scope 1	0.00	0.00
  Category 2: Indirect emissions from imported energy (location-based method*)	Scope 2	2.95	1.85
  Category 3: Indirect emissions from transportation	Scope 3	15.31	18.56
  Category 4: Indirect emissions from products used by organisation		1.59	1.43
  Category 5: Indirect emissions associated with the use of products from the organisation (tCO2e)		0.00	0.00
  Category 6: Indirect emissions from other sources		0.00	0.00
  Total direct emissions		0.00	0.00
  Total indirect emissions*		19.84	21.83
  Total gross emissions*		19.84	21.83
  Category 1 direct removals		0.00	0.00
  Purchased emission reductions		0.00	0.00
  Total net emissions		19.84	21.83

  *Emissions are reported using a location-based methodology. 

• 

  Figure: The office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment gross emissions by subcategory for 2023 and 2024.

• The top three emissions sources all related to air travel for business purposes, which increased by 3 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent from last financial year. Air travel is often required during investigations to visit sites and carry out iwi and community consultations. The level of air travel is dependent on what kinds of investigations are underway and whether a travel component is needed.

  The majority of staff commute via public transport, cycling or walking. Emissions from imported electricity use and employee commuting reduced slightly from last year.

  My office is currently working on reducing organisation-wide electricity use and has undertaken a project to increase the number of automated light sensors in the office to ensure lights are not left on unnecessarily. We will continue to review opportunities to further reduce our emissions over the coming financial year.