Emissions reporting for the year ending 30 June 2023
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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.
We selected 2022/23 as the base year for our reporting. Our emissions for this period were 19.84 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. We measured emissions resulting from operational activities, purchased energy and selected impacts from our value chain activities, including business travel, freight and waste sent to the landfill. Emissions and reductions are reported using location-based methodology.
Annual inventory of emissions and reductions for the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment 2022/23.
Category (ISO 14064-1:2018)
Scopes (GHG Protocol)
Greenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e)
Category 1: Direct emissions Scope 1 0.00 Category 2: Indirect emissions from imported energy (location-based method) Scope 2 2.95 Category 3: Indirect emissions from transportation Scope 3 15.31 Category 4: Indirect emissions from products used by organisation 1.59 Category 5: Indirect emissions associated with the use of products from the organisation 0.00 Category 6: Indirect emissions from other sources 0.00 Total gross emissions* 19.84 Category 1 direct removals 0.00 Total net emissions* 19.84 -
The operational greenhouse gas emission sources included in this inventory are show in the figure below.
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Top ten sources of greenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e) by the office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment 2022/23.
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The top three sources of emissions were: air travel for work purposes, electricity use and staff commuting to work. Air travel is often required during the course of investigations to visit sites and carry out iwi and community consultations. The level of this activity is dependent on the type of investigation undertaken by the office and whether a travel component is required.
The majority of staff commute via public transport, cycling or walking. Staff commuting and office electricity use are expected to remain fairly consistent across future years. It is unlikely that there will be any significant increase or decrease in these activities.
As a tranche three organisation within the Carbon Neutral Government Programme, the office is not mandated to report, or to set targets. However, we will continue to review opportunities to further reduce our emissions over the coming financial year. Actions taken this year include:
- working with suppliers who are focused on their own emissions reduction and have a commitment to carbon reporting
- replacing current lighting in meeting room spaces with sensor lighting
- formalising our office recycling system.
In the coming year the corporate team will undertake work to source and improve data for future emissions inventories. This may include:
- working with site cleaners to obtain weights of waste
- adding paper and organic waste into 2023/24 reporting
- working with suppliers to obtain more detailed information on land transport (e.g. taxis), including kilometres travelled.