Historic Scotland and Carbon Management

Effective implementation of our Carbon Management Plan is critical to achieving Historic Scotland’s challenging carbon reduction targets of 25% carbon emissions reduction by April 2015 and the overarching targets of the Scottish Government; to slash Scotland’s carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. To do this, Historic Scotland has branched into an exciting new field; Carbon Management. With such a spotlight on the corporate responsibility of environmental issues, and many universities now offering courses in this field, Carbon Management seems to be the new craze. But what does this actually mean? How do we “manage” carbon? Simply put, this is the process of ensuring that the ground breaking targets set by the Scottish Government and by Historic Scotland are met.

Edinburgh Castle: a world-famous visitor attraction and Scotland’s number one top paid visitor attraction. Accounts for 31% of HS’s total buildings carbon emissions.

There are various different protocols and standards that all provide a comprehensive guide as to how we should manage and report on our carbon. But regardless of which methodology you use, any Carbon Manager will tell you the importance of following five key ethics:

•    Relevance
•    Completeness
•    Consistency
•    Transparency
•    Accuracy

As Carbon Manager for Historic Scotland, and as part of the wider Climate Change Team, it is my responsibility to continually monitor our progress against our Carbon Management Plan (available under the ‘downloads’ section). Of course, it’s not enough just to monitor our carbon emissions; we need to reduce them! To achieve this, I must set clear targets for reduction each year. To monitor the progress of these targets, quarterly reports are presented to our teams around the country to provide them with the information they need to tackle this challenge.  Under the “Public Bodies Climate Change Duties: Putting them into Practice”, we are obligated to produce our annual carbon accounts. In line with the five key ethics of Carbon Management, these will be available to the general public.

Stanley Mills: a complex of water-powered cotton mills situated on a majestic bend in the River Tay. Founded over 200 years ago by a partnership including Richard Arkwright the “father” of the English cotton industry. Operations stopped here around 1989. Accounts for 2% of HS’s total buildings carbon emissions.

Carbon Management has a major impact on the wider issue of sustainability. Our goals have made us look very closely at how we manage our day to day business; such as how we record data for energy consumption, handle our waste, manage our fleet of vehicles, handle procurement, and so on. Improving these processes not only plays a major role in reducing our carbon emissions but can also deliver cost savings, meaning we can continue with our main role; ensuring Scotland’s historic environments and traditional buildings are safeguarded for the future and having a positive impact on the nation’s economy and society.

This weeks blog is written by Scott Brady, Historic Scotland Carbon Manager