Enfield Council has commissioned Greengage to develop their Carbon Neutral 2030 strategy.
In July 2019 Enfield declared a climate emergency, promising to be carbon neutral by 2030, divest its pension funds from fossil fuels and make procurement more sustainable. Enfield already has a good track record of delivering sustainability within its own organisation and across the borough through initiatives like Cycle Enfield and its installation of ground source heat pumps to reduce fuel poverty in some of its tower blocks.
In order to deliver a strategy for Enfield, Greengage has been carrying out a carbon footprint of its operations across Scopes 1 (gas, fleet), Scope 2 (electricity) and Scope 3 (upstream and downstream emissions). This is the most comprehensive footprint that has been undertaken of Enfield’s operations and will provide the basis for much of the strategy.
Greengage are embedded within the local authority, to act as an in-house resource for staff and the Climate Change Task Force, which has been set up to lead on the Council’s response to the climate emergency. This has proven invaluable in terms of interacting with directors and key members of staff to drill down into the organisation and its priorities. In addition, Greengage has provided advice on engagement and is designing focus groups with staff as part of the strategy development. Being on site with the client has provided them with extra capacity, but also enables Greengage to leave a legacy including increased carbon literacy and climate knowledge.
Strategy drafting has started with the aim to develop a draft by early January 2020 and a completed strategy by April 2020. We are working around defined themes under which initiatives will be developed. Greengage is taking a roadmap approach – outlining high level roadmaps for each theme with more detailed roadmaps for each initiative. Supporting these will be approximate costs and carbon savings which are aimed at getting Enfield’s direct operations to neutrality. The strategy will also outline where Enfield can influence behaviours and actions across the borough with businesses, supplier and residents.
