Devon County Council has taken steps which will enable them and their suppliers to continue reducing carbon emissions.

The County Council Cabinet agreed on a new Carbon Reduction Plan 2024–2027 and adopted a Low Carbon Supply Chain Strategy 2024–2026.

The Council’s carbon emissions in 2022/23 were 56% lower than in 2012/13 thanks to a number of measures including retrofitting of nine buildings, the roll-out of LED lights on streetlighting and traffic signals and upgrading some of their vehicle fleet to electric vehicles.

The Carbon Reduction Plan sets out ambitious proposals for further carbon savings over the next three years through retrofitting more buildings, completing the upgrade of LED streetlighting, encouraging school transport providers to switch to electric vehicles, and installing more electric vehicle charging points.

The adoption of the Low Carbon Supply Chain Strategy 2024–2026 will aim to address the level of carbon emissions from their supply chain, which is roughly 19 times larger than the corporate carbon footprint directly controlled by Devon County Council.

Currently, 20% of Devon County Council spend is covered by a net-zero target, but the strategy aims to increase this to 50% by the end of March 2026.

Suppliers will be supported to report the carbon emissions related to the delivery of their contract, goods or services, and data collection from suppliers will need to be in a consistent format to ensure a more accurate picture of emissions.