The table shows estimated annual emissions of carbon dioxide from air travel attributable to Government Departments. These are estimates based on air travel spending and/or distance travelled, collected for the purpose of calculating payments into the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund1. Some departmental figures include air travel emissions attributable to associated agencies. When applied to the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund, departmental figures will be multiplied by two to take into account the additional impact of emissions at altitude.
1 The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for Culture, Media and Sport operate their own offsetting schemes.
Department Tonnes of carbon dioxide per year Foreign and Commonwealth Office 14,243 Department for International Development 8,676 Ministry of Defence 7,583 HM Revenue and Customs 4,155 Department for Trade and Industry 3,404 Home Office 2,362 Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) 1,997 Treasury 1,662 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 1,350 Department of Health 955 Cabinet Office 818 Department for Transport 520 Office of the Deputy Prime Minister 340 Office of National Statistics 190 Department for Education and Skills 148 Law Officers Department Crown Prosecution Service 228 Department for Culture, Media and Sport 151 Law Officers Department Serious Fraud Office 133 Department for Constitutional Affairs 139 Office of Government Commerce (OGC) 111 Export Credits Guarantee Department 128 Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science 80 Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers 30 Government Actuary’s Department 23 Debt Management Office 4 Total 49,430
Defra recognises some of the inherent difficulties in calculating carbon dioxide emissions from financial expenditure, and is actively seeking to improve carbon dioxide reporting mechanisms across Government.
The recent Pan-Government Travel Contract (led by the DWP, OGC and Defra) had sustainability as a stringent criterion. My Department, in partnership with our travel service provider, has developed carbon reporting based on business mileages, rather than financial expenditure. This has improved the reliability of data streams and enabled strategic analysis.
Through the work of the Defra-led Government Carbon Offsetting Fund Interdepartmental Group and the Civil Service Travel Group, Defra is promoting the use of the collaborative Pan-Government Travel Contract. We are also sharing best practice across the Government Estate.