Greenhouse emissions (FOI)

Request

The current Sustainable Transport Survey states 'Over 50% of Jersey's greenhouse gas emissions come from transport'. On what evidence is this based? Could you provide a link or evidence to how the States define current carbon footprint of activities in Jersey?

Response

The information you have requested is exempt under Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 as the information is already accessible to you on the Government of Jersey website.

The evidence that ‘over 50% of Jersey’s greenhouse gas emissions come from transport’ is shown in our greenhouse gas inventory, which is published online and updated annually. Jersey’s online Greenhouse gas inventory can be viewed at the following link:

Greenhouse gas emissions

In line with international reporting guidelines, produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, greenhouse gas emissions are reported by the following sectors:

• agriculture

• business

• energy supply

• land use change

• residential

• transport

• waste management

In order to work out the percentage split of Jersey’s emissions by sector (as listed above), the total emissions for each sector were divided by the total emissions across all sectors. For example, the 50% transport emissions percentage was calculated by dividing the total emissions from the transport sector (186.88ktCO₂ e) by the total emissions (365.6ktCO₂ e) x 100 = over 50%.

This data can be found at the following link in the ‘What’s happened in the past’ tab on the online inventory, within the first graph on that page showing Jersey’s total emissions in 2017:

Jersey Greenhouse Gas Emissions 1990-2017

The most recent Jersey inventory includes estimates of emissions from all sources and sectors for the years 1990 to 2017. The inventory always reports data for the timeframe of 1990 to the year that is two years before the year of reporting ie 2017 in 2019. This delay is the result of the time required for official statistics to be available and the amount of time to compile the necessary data and check and finalise the emissions reported. The data is provided annually in accordance with international regulations. 

Article applied

Article 23 Information accessible to applicant by other means

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it is reasonably available to the applicant, otherwise than under this Law, whether or not free of charge.

(2) A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant where the applicant may obtain the information.

​