"significant carbon-cutting opportunities" have been identified by the North York Moors National Park
The North York Moors National Park Authority has agreed a series of actions designed to improve the environmental credentials of outside bodies after a study found the emissions generated creating the goods and services it buys were more than double the emissions generated directly by the authority’s activities.
A meeting of the North York Moors National Park Authority’s finance committee heard while the authority had a limited ability to directly influence the practices of firms that it bought goods and services from the study of its procurement had highlighted areas on which to focus.
The study found that construction and buildings work contributed the carbon emissions equivalent to 233,000kg annually, equal to the carbon footprint of 106,087 beef steaks.
External professional, scientific and technical services was found to be the next biggest emissions generator, producing the equivalent of 58,000kg.
Officers told the meeting significant carbon-cutting opportunities had been identified where the authority buys significant amounts of product from few suppliers to use that as a first step of the process, engaging with them on ways of reducing emissions.
Members heard there would also be opportunities to make targeted efforts to do research when making big investment in specific areas, such as a new suite of Ranger equipment, and utilise this to include sustainability elements in tender evaluation questions.
The meeting agreed upon launching a programme of knowledge and skills development to improve the knowledge of staff involved in procurement and changing its financial regulations.
When quality and cost are being considered in the assessment of quotations and tenders, a percentage factor of the quality assessment could include an assessment of the carbon emissions associated with the good or services being procured.
The meeting was told the authority was trying follow sustainable procurement where possible, such as looking at the efficiency of laptops, but there was much room for improvement.
Officers said marshalling information, sharing resources, increasing training and introducing a formal policy in which outside bodies answered questions over their environmental credentials, were a “good first step”, in what was said would be “a very long road” towards tackling the issue.
Member Malcolm Bowes said it would be key to promote the authority’s carbon cutting message to all the firms it was buying goods and services from.
He said:
“At the end of the day it’s in the balance. If you’ve got a couple of tenders that are very close that are very close and it’s obvious one of taking the climate challenge seriously and the other isn’t, then we’ll go for the one that is.”
The authority’s chair, Jim Bailey, said the authority needed to issue “a statement of intent” by publicising a short list of simple actions that people could take to tackle climate change.
He said:
“If we’re going to advocates of addressing climate change then people have to be given things that are understandable and doable. Knowing with confidence about what people need to do to help is really important.”
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