Carbon Footprint

Background

As the world wakes up to the climate and wider environmental emergency, rapid reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and sustainable land management are becoming increasingly central to the local, national and international policy agendas.

Together, the UK’s 15 National Parks (NPs) and 46 Areas of Outstanding National Beauty (AONBs) are home to over 1.5 million residents, attract approximately 250 million visitors per year, and account for around 18% of the UK’s land area. If these protected landscapes can become exemplars of low-carbon transition and environment-conscious land management, their national and international profiles could give them a level of influence that far outweighs the scale of their own emissions.

The exciting and creative challenge for each protected landscape is to find a way to cut emissions in line with current science, and be leaders in land stewardship and planning while simultaneously creating better places for people to live, work and visit.

The Report

This report, for the Exmoor National Park, is one of a series of methodologically compatible reports produced for each UK National Park. They are designed to provide a robust and consistent evidence basis for climate action, matched to the unique characteristics and circumstances of each protected landscape, as we enter an era in which climate mitigation and sustainable land management become ever more central to all our lives, our work and to all policy decisions.

Full Report (pdf)

Full Report (doc)

Summary Report (doc)

Net-Zero Challenge for Exmoor & Dartmoor National Parks webinar

A joint webinar was hosted on 23 May 2023 to explore the net zero challenge based on the carbon footprint assessments for  the National Parks. A recording is available below along with links to the two presentations shared.

• Welcome & Introduction – Sarah Bryan, Chief Executive, Exmoor National Park Authority
• Exmoor & Dartmoor National Park carbon footprint assessments - Professor Mike Berners-Lee and Dr Dmitry Yumashev from Small World Consulting present the key outputs from the Exmoor & Dartmoor National Park carbon footprint reports, including the potential pathways to Net Zero for the National Parks and the key areas where action is needed. Presentation slides (PDF). Jump to this in video.
• Net Zero Farming – Big wins for reducing farm business emissions and increasing landscape-scale carbon sequestration in our National Parks Hannah Jones from Farm Carbon Toolkit reflects on their practical experience analysing carbon stocks and fluxes of woodland and moorland habitats on Dartmoor National Park Authority's estate. Presentation slides (PDF). Jump to this in video.
• Net Zero, carbon accounting and the National Parks Professor Sir Dieter Helm, Professor of Economic Policy at University of Oxford presents his thoughts on reducing individual consumption and encouraging behaviour change. Jump to this in video.
• Panel discussion - Delivering the net zero trajectory –How do the National Parks respond to the challenging timescales and targets for action?  Jump to this in video.