Archived decisions
10:10 for Councils: Full Details
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What exactly do we have to do?
10:10 for local authorities is very simple, and in most cases will just entail revising your existing emissions reduction targets to become somewhat more ambitious.
All you need to do is:
· Councils signing up to 10:10 will be allowed to set a baseline year that ends at any time up until 30 June 2010. That means you can submit 2009/10 NI 185 data minus schools and outsourced contracts (or the equivalent indicators for devolved administrations) as your baseline and then 2010/11 figures as your final submission. This should make it easy to provide the figures without doing any extra measurement.
· Aim to achieve an absolute 10% cut in N185 emissions over the 12 month period immediately following your baseline year
For more information on National Indicator 185, please visit:
What about carbon offsets?
10:10 does not recognise any form of carbon offsetting or emissions trading as counting towards your 10% cut. That's because the whole aim of 10:10 is to reduce emissions directly - within the UK.
How will our 10:10 progress be measured?
A key part of signing up to 10:10 is committing to keep track of your emissions so that you can measure progress in reducing them. Once you have this data you can use our simple online reporting tool (available from 2010) to tell us how your savings are adding up.
Will we be audited or put in a league table?
No, there will be no independent audits and no league tables. However, we do ask that before you make any public claims about the emissions savings achieved as part of your 10:10 action, you (a) run your figures through our online tool, and (b) make sure the documentation supporting your data is available to 10:10 on request.
If you can let us know how you're doing at the end of every quarter, then great. If you only measure twice - once at the beginning and once at the end, then so be it.
How will our 10:10 participation and progress be communicated?
We strongly encourage every council signing up to 10:10 to use our logo to communicate its participation during the action year. The more you show off the logo, the clearer it will be that you're doing your best to reduce emissions. And you'll be helping to spread the word about the 10:10 project, too.
During the action year, we'd very much like to hear of any successful, innovative or funny ways that your council has discovered to reduce its emissions. 10:10 will help publicise the best stories through our national media partners. 10:10 recognizes all cuts as a success but those local authorities achieving the full 10% may feature prominently in coverage of the project.
At the end of your action year your local authority will be listed on the 10:10 register of successful participants and you can continue to use the 10:10 brand if:
(a) you report your emissions data to 10:10 using our online tool, and
(b) our online tool shows that an emissions reduction of at least 3% was achieved.
What about longer-term cuts?
10:10 is about making headway on the journey to a genuinely low-carbon economy, so we strongly encourage councils to approach the short-term challenge in a way that recognises the need for further cuts in the future.
More specifically, local authorities should try to ensure that the emissions savings made during their 10:10 action year are locked in for the long term - and that the action taken will complement rather than impede longer-term further cuts.
In practice this means thinking carefully about investment decisions - for example, opting for best-in-category efficiency ratings when installing new boilers, fridges and other equipment, as opposed to models that are only slightly more efficient than the ones being replaced.
One of the advantages of joining 10:10 is that it helps you to get ahead of the pack in terms of sustainability. This will not only cut your energy costs in the short term but will put you at a strategic advantage in the longer term. Britain is committed to emissions cuts of at least 34% by 2020 (relative to 1990) and the coming years will see high-carbon councils being squeezed harder and harder by laws put in place to make sure this target is met.
Do we need to do anything else if we sign up?
Joining 10:10 is not just about reducing your own council's emissions: it's about becoming part of a national drive to reduce the entire country's carbon footprint. As such, an important part of the 10:10 commitment is spreading the word and seeking to get other people and organisations involved.
One key way that local authorities can spread the word is by encouraging their staff to sign up as 10:10 individuals. Helping them hit the target - by, for example, implementing the government's cycle-to-work scheme, having a weekly meat-free day in the canteen, or supporting lift-sharing or car-pooling - will reduce emissions directly as well as increasing staff engagement with your organisation's emissions cuts.
Local authorities can also make a big difference by telling residents, suppliers, contractors and clients - everyone you work with - about 10:10, and inviting them to take part. This could be the most important thing you do so please think about how you will communicate your involvement in 10:10.