Reports and Reviews
As part of the Carbon Neutral Cornwall programme the Council remains committed to providing access to the data, reports and strategies that are used as evidence to inform our work, engagement and decision making along with links to our performance and risk reports to enable our residents and partners to monitor progress against our ambitions and inform their own activity.
It should be noted that performance reports are updated quarterly and Greenhouse Gas Inventory reports annually. Both reports utilise the internationally recognised Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Inventories with the Council report using data for the previous financial year and the Cornwall inventory, produced by the University of Exeter, brings together national and local datasets to provide a holistic analysis of Cornwall's Greenhouse Gas emissions. The national data is collated annually, approximately two-years in arrears; therefore the publication of the Cornwall Inventory tracks slightly behind national statistics and the inventory we published in 2023, reports on emissions for the 2020 data year.
Pathways to becoming carbon neutral
Following our climate emergency declaration, we commissioned the University of Exeter to produce Cornwall Climate Emergency: Pathways to “Net Zero” report which looks at the scale of change required for Cornwall to reach net zero emission by 2030 and 2050. The report, produce in 2019, looks at the funding and policy change required and indicates some areas where innovation is still required.
View and download Cornwall's pathways to carbon neutral report
Carbon Neutral Cornwall Action Plan
The Cornwall Climate Emergency: Pathways to “Net Zero” report informed the development of the Carbon Neutral Cornwall Action Plan which was adopted in July 2019. Our nationally recognised action plan informed the first phase of activity and engagement undertaken by the Council and led to the publication of Carbon Neutral Cornwall Call to Action in January 2021.
View Climate Change Action Plan
View Carbon Neutral Cornwall Call to Action booklet
Cornwall's Greenhouse Gas Inventory
In 2019, when the council declared a climate emergency, we commissioned an updated Cornwall Green House Gas Inventory to provide a 2008 baseline and for all years available at that time, which as the data is available two years in arrears was 2017. Along with the Pathways to Net Zero report our baseline inventory was also used to prioritise activity and engagement with residents, key emitting sectors and government. It is important to note that all of our inventories take into account the impact of the seasonal influx of tourists which account for around 13% of our total emissions.
View Cornwall's Greenhouse Gas Inventory report 2008-2017
View Cornwall's Greenhouse Gas Inventory for 2019
Each year we commission the University of Exeter to produce an updated inventory to chart Cornwall’s progress towards our net zero ambitions. We aim to publish the updated inventory in April each year and this year’s technical report, which uses 2020 data is available below:
View Cornwall's Greenhouse Gas Inventory report 2020
However, we appreciate that technical reports are not always easy to understand so we have created an interactive report which is updated following the publication of the technical report and provides an overview of emissions since 2008, where our emissions came from in the reporting year and a breakdown of emissions by source.
View interactive Cornwall Green House Gas Inventory
Cornwall Council's Carbon Footprint
Cornwall Council is working towards becoming a Carbon Neutral Council. Since our climate emergency declaration in January 2019 we have committed to publishing annual Green House Gas Inventories. These are produced in house with data from the previous financial year using the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Inventories. Reports are published annually alongside the Cornwall Inventory with a technical and interactive report available.
View interactive Cornwall Council Green House Gas Inventory 2022-2023
View Cornwall Council's technical Green House Gas Inventory report 2022-2023
Progress reporting
Following the adoption of the Carbon Neutral Cornwall Action Plan it was agreed that quarterly progress reports would be given to the Neighbourhoods Overview and Scrutiny Committee. As each new report is published it can be accessed through the link below and you will be able to toggle through different reports to chart progress overtime.
View Carbon Neutral Cornwall Quarterly Highlight Report
(if the power bi is slow to load click on your refresh button to speed it up).
An annual report on progress over the last financial year is also produced.
View Carbon Neutral Cornwall Annual Report 2022-23
View Carbon Neutral Cornwall Annual Report 2022-23 Appendix 1
View Carbon Neutral Cornwall Annual Report 2022-23 Appendix 2
Cornwall Climate Risk Assessment
The Cornwall Climate Risk Assessment (CCRA) was published in November 2022 and is the UK’s first bespoke risk assessment and contains a summary report, technical report and supporting documents. The Council are using the results of the CCRA to develop an adaptation strategy to help build resilience within our communities, our businesses and our natural habitats. This will be created in collaboration with our stakeholders, partners and communities and will be shared when finalised.
View Cornwall Climate Risk Assessment
Residents' Survey
Cornwall Council commissioned a survey to look at Cornwall residents' perceptions of climate change and current behaviours around travel, home energy use, products people buy and food. It investigated:
- Residents’ willingness to alter some of these behaviours in favour of low-carbon alternatives,
- To what extent the cost of living crisis has already prompted behaviour change,
- Residents' views on the Council’s role in tackling climate change.
View Cornwall Council Behaviour Change and Engagement Programme – Survey of Residents
