Corporate Environmental Report 2020/21

Our Vision

Proud to be leading the way to a better future for Wales by managing the environment and natural resources of Wales sustainably.

Our Purpose

Through the new Environment (Wales) Act 2016, we

  • must pursue the sustainable management of natural resources, and;
  • apply the principles of sustainable management of natural resources. 

Introduction

Our environmental management system (EMS) supports Natural Resources Wales (NRW) vision and purpose by maintaining our certification to the ISO14001:2015 environmental standard, our forest certification against the UK Woodland Assurance Standard and by reducing our own environmental impact and carbon footprint.

In 2020/21 the Covid-19 Pandemic has dramatically affected the way NRW has operated. By following Welsh Government advice, staff have predominantly worked from home, with offices closed or with restricted access. There have also been restrictions on travel and on working field arrangements.

This has led to significant reductions in energy, water and waste at our offices and depots and significant reductions in business mileage. All of which have led to overall carbon emission reductions.

We are now also developing methodology to calculate and report NRW staff home working emissions.

Summary of Performance

In 2020/21 we have:

  • reduced our overall carbon footprint by 35.4% in relation to scope 1, scope 2 and currently measured scope 3 emissions compared with 2019/20 data;
  • reduced our mains electricity usage in occupied buildings and depots for the seventh year in a row, a 23.3% reduction in 2020/21 compared with 2019/20 data;
  • reduced our overall business miles by 52.6% compared with 2019/20 data;
  • retained certification to the ISO14001 environmental standard and the UK Woodland Assurance Standard, following independent external audits and verification.

Table 1: Corporate environmental report summary table

Category Units 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

tCO2e

4,387

4,199

3,994

2,579

Energy consumption

million kWh

6.0

6.3

7.1

5.4

Energy expenditure

£k

618

583

729

628

Waste generated

tonnes

1,141

966

1,772

793

Waste expenditure

£k

273

218

333

199

Water consumption

m3

50,908

40,115

42,127

33,116

Water expenditure

£k

25

30

13

18


Table 1 reflects relative change for key areas in the last year.

In summary:

  • organisational greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 1,415 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e);
  • energy, travel, waste and water all decreased, mainly because of the way NRW operated in 2020/21 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

More detail around each component can be found within the related sections of this report.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Carbon emissions decreased in 2020/21 by 35.4% compared with the previous year.

Scope 1 direct emissions decreased by 26.4%, this was due to a decrease in the amount of fuel used in our pool cars and by our operational teams.

Scope 2 energy indirect emissions decreased by 32.4%, this was due to a decrease in electricity usage in under-occupied buildings because of restricted access.

Scope 3 other indirect emissions decreased by 66.4%, this was due to a decrease in business miles due to travel restrictions and the amount of waste generated.

Table 2: Greenhouse gas emissions

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Units 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21

Scope 1: Direct emissions

tCO2e

2,466

2,499

2,129

1,568

Scope 2: Energy indirect emissions

tCO2e

1,317

1,077

1,130

764

Scope 3: Other indirect emissions

tCO2e

603

624

735

247

Total gross Greenhouse Gas emissions

tCO2e

4,387

4,199

3,994

2,579

Outside of scopes (i.e. biomass)

tCO2e

208

187

184

132

Note 1: Data not externally verified – Limited Assurance.

Note 2: The Scope 3 other indirect greenhouse gas emissions include; train travel, air travel, grey fleet travel, lease car travel, hire car travel, water and waste.

Note 3: Scope 3 emissions from the purchase of goods and services, aggregates use in construction and timber use are not included.

Energy

Total energy use decreased by 1,681,637 kWh a 23.6% reduction in 2020/21 compared with 2019/20 data.

This includes; electric, mains gas, LPG, heating oil and biomass from offices, depots and unmanned sites such as gauging and pumping stations.

Three sites on the NRW estate were fitted with new PV solar panels, this increased the energy generated by PV solar panels by 17.4 %. However, due to less energy generated from hydro on the estate, the overall energy generated from renewables remained constant.

Total energy emissions decreased by 492 tCO2e a 29.0% reduction in 2020/21 compared with 2019/20 data.

Table 3: Energy consumption

Resource Use - Energy Units 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21

Energy used occupied sites

kWh

4,918,340

4,973,616

5,131,465

4,027,176

Energy used occupied sites

tCO2e

1,436

1,236

1,188

876

Energy used unmanned sites

kWh

1,122,103

1,298,317

1,985,005

1,407,657

Energy used unmanned sites

tCO2e

395

367

507

328

Renewable energy generated

kWh

106,856

167,879

161,193

161,320

% total energy used as renewables

%

2.2

3.4

3.1

4.0

Total Energy used - consumption

kWh

6,040,443

6,271,933

7,116,470

5,434,833

Total Energy used - consumption

tCO2e

1,830

1,603

1,696

1,204

Total Energy used - expenditure

£k

618

583

729

628

Water

Mains water usage decreased by 7,150 m3 a 60.6% reduction in 2020/21 compared with 2019/20 data. Our water use intensity (m3/FTE) also decreased from 2.9 to 1.0. The average intensity for water of a typical office is 4.0.

NRW has been awarded the Waterwise Checkmark for several offices and visitor centres.

“NRW is proud to be the first UK regulator to be awarded the Waterwise Checkmark, highlighting our commitment to water efficiency at our offices and visitor centres. We recognise the environmental benefits of efficient use of one of the most essential of Wales’ natural resources and are committed to making further efficiency savings across our estate, reducing our water footprint and climate impact. We will look to share our experience and knowledge with partners, so that we can all play our part to make water efficiency savings and help create the Wales we want to see in the future.” 
Clare Pillman, NRW Chief Executive

Table 4: Water Consumption

Resource Use - Water Units 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21

Total mains water -consumption

m3

11,894

12,368

11,803

4,653

Total abstracted water - consumption

m3

39,014

27,747

30,324

28,463

Office mains water -consumption

m3

5,555

6,047

6,228

2,107

Office abstracted water - consumption

m3

22

32

26

4

Non-office mains water -consumption

m3

6,339

6,321

5,575

2,546

Non-office abstracted water - consumption

m3

38,992

27,715

30,298

28,459

Water use intensity (for office use)

m3 / FTE

3.0

3.2

2.9

1.0

Total water - consumption

m3

50,908

40,115

42,127

33,116

Total water - consumption

tCO2e

18

14

15

11

Total water - expenditure

£k

25

30

13

18

Travel

Our travel needs include; travel to manage sites, responding to serious environmental incidents, taking samples, dealing with flooding, site meetings and inter-office travel. 

Business travel miles decreased by 3,385,712 miles a 52.6% reduction in 2020/21 compared with 2019/20 data.

The reduction in business travel was mainly due to the Welsh Government advice of not to travel due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Essential flood defence, emergency response and forestry works continued whilst following Welsh Government guidelines for key workers.

No air travel occurred in 2020/21 and train travel reduced by 99%, again due to the Covid-19 Pandemic travel restrictions.

Travel in electric vehicles decreased again in 2020/21, several factors contributed to this, the need for off-road travel for essential works and no rapid charging infrastructure in place.

Table 5: Business Travel

Business travel Units 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21

NRW badged fleet (Not including EVs)

miles

5,440,945

5,562,246

4,934,687

3,020,287

NRW badged fleet

£k

749

789

720

455

Grey fleet

miles

590,998

614,868

554,375

266,804

Grey fleet

£k

266

277

249

120

Hire vehicle

miles

261,039

277,390

512,209

153,361

Hire vehicle

£k

88

124

195

181

Train

miles

938,418

993,213

1,258,211

3,007

Train

£k

183

328

397

< 1

Air

miles

33,661

50,299

26,663

0

Air

£k

5

7

7

0

Bicycle

miles

2,301

3,714

4,012

2,259

Bicycle

£k

< 1

< 1

< 1

< 1

Motorbike

miles

1,735

1,155

729

110

Motorbike

£k

< 1

< 1

< 1

< 1

Electric vehicles (EVs)

miles

0

32,832

26,374

19,660

Total business travel

miles

7,269,097

7,535,717

7,317,260

3,465,488

Total business travel

tCO2e

2,019

2,002

1,810

1,087

Total business travel

£k

1,291

1,525

1,568

757

Waste Minimisation and Management

Total waste generated decreased by 979 tonnes a 55.2% reduction in 2020/21 compared with 2019/20 data.

Table 6: Waste Generated

Waste Units 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21

Office waste - Landfill

tonnes

213

286

90

23

Office waste - Landfill

tCO2e

125

168

53

10

Office waste - Landfill

£k

25

25

24

31

Office waste - Recycled / Reused

tonnes

600

431

972

460

Office waste - Recycled / Reused

tCO2e

13

9

21

10

Office waste - Incinerated

tonnes

27

31

31

18

Office waste - Incinerated

tCO2e

< 1

< 1

< 1

< 1

Operational and fly-tip waste

tonnes

301

218

680

292

Operational and fly-tip waste

tCO2e

135

98

269

111

Total waste

tonnes

1,141

966

1,772

793

Total waste

tCO2e

274

276

343

132

Total waste

£k

273

218

333

199

Environmental incidents

In 2020/21 there were twenty-three environmental incidents because of our work or that of contractors we manage.

When incidents occur because of our work (or that of our contractors), we review what has happened, and act to address the root cause of the incident.

Sustainable Procurement

Our Vision for Procurement is to provide effective procurement leadership and direction in support of Natural Resources Wales mission and values and embed the fundamental concepts of a learning organisation with the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources (SMNR) as its central organising principle.

The procurement and carbon positive teams have been working collaboratively to address emissions in our supply chain. Consideration of carbon has been embedded into the procurement process for two significant contracts.  In addition, a progress to date, lessons learnt, and forward look paper has been prepared and shared with the Welsh Government.  

Governance and Reporting

We report on our carbon footprint as part of our performance framework, which is reported by the Executive Team to the Board (in open public session) four times each year.

We collect the data used within this sustainability report through a combination of meter readings (e.g. gas, electricity), invoices (e.g. fuel card purchases), supplier’s data (e.g. train miles) and finance data, using the most accurate source/s we have available. We also look to minimise use of any estimated data in our reporting.

Carbon Positive Project

We worked with colleagues to ensure decarbonisation is a key principle in both the ‘fleet strategy’ and the ‘accommodation strategy review refresh’ projects.

Energy modelling and the development of low carbon pathways at our eleven biggest emitting sites has been commissioned with works continuing in 2021/22. 

Two new solar photovoltaic schemes have been installed at Cynrig hatchery (29kW) and the Clawdd Newydd office (4.8kW).

The team prepared a paper for decision, on the use of hydrogenated vegetable oil fuel (HVO) for NRW which recommended an HVO trial.  The paper was endorsed by the Climate Change and Decarbonisation Change Programme board.

Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic we are now also developing methodology to calculate and report NRW staff home working emissions.

Homeworking emissions associated with home heating and power use were estimated to be 1083.9 tCO2e and 118.9 tCO2e respectively in 2020/21. This was an increase in homeworking energy emissions of 444.6% from the previous year, driven by the COVID-19 homeworking directive. Home heat and power usage were estimated per FTE employee following the EcoAct Homeworking Emissions Whitepaper methodology applied to NRW data on FTE numbers and office desk bookings.

Increased homeworking also meant that our staff commute emissions decreased by 95.4% from the previous year to 114.1 tCO2e in 2020/21.

Future Strategy

In line with our current corporate strategy we want to:

  • Continue to deliver the NRW carbon positive action plan to include; retrofit buildings with solar PV, develop an electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, increase the EV mileage, identify and deliver a programme of peatland projects in order to further reduce our carbon emissions;
  • Develop mechanisms for active and sustainable travel to be the favoured choice of NRW commuter travel and for appropriate business journeys;
  • Continue to maintain certification to the ISO14001 environmental standard for all NRW activities and certification to the UK Woodland Assurance Standard for the Welsh Government Woodland Estate.
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