Carbon accounting for UK councils and local government.
Local authorities face unique challenges: large estates, diverse service delivery, and public accountability. Climatise helps councils track emissions across buildings, fleet, street lighting, and outsourced services.
333
Principal authorities in England
74%
Have declared climate emergency
2030
Most common net zero target date
Regulations that apply
The challenge
What local authorities are facing
Massive, diverse property estate
Offices, leisure centres, libraries, depots, schools — hundreds of buildings with different energy profiles, different metering, and different management. Getting a single picture of your estate's carbon footprint is the first challenge.
Fleet emissions from core services
Waste collection vehicles, highways maintenance, social care transport — local authority fleets serve essential functions and can't simply be electrified overnight. But they need measuring now.
Outsourced services blur Scope boundaries
If waste collection is outsourced, is it Scope 1 or Scope 3? If a leisure centre is run by a trust, whose emissions are they? Local authorities have uniquely complex operational boundaries.
Public accountability with limited resources
74% of English councils have declared a climate emergency. Citizens and councillors expect progress. But sustainability teams are often one person trying to cover a £200m+ operation.
74% of English councils have declared a climate emergency. Citizens and councillors expect progress, but most sustainability teams are just one person.
The solution
How Climatise helps
Estate-wide tracking
Every building in your estate gets its own emissions profile. Roll up to directorate, service, or whole-authority level.
See this feature →Fleet emissions from fuel data
Import fuel card data for all council vehicles. Track by service area — waste, highways, social care, parks.
See this feature →Outsourced service estimation
Estimate Scope 3 emissions from outsourced contracts using spend data. Essential for councils where major services are externally delivered.
Public-facing carbon reports
Generate transparent reports suitable for publication. Show citizens and councillors exactly where you stand.
See this feature →Common questions
Local Authorities carbon reporting FAQ
If your authority meets the SECR thresholds, yes. Most principal authorities qualify. Even if you don't technically meet the thresholds, climate emergency declarations create an expectation of transparent emissions reporting.
Outsourced services fall under Scope 3. Climatise estimates emissions from contract spend data. For high-impact contracts (like waste), you can also request actual data from contractors via the supplier engagement module.
Street lighting is often one of the biggest energy consumers in a local authority. Climatise tracks street lighting energy separately, which is useful for demonstrating the impact of LED conversion programmes.
You can generate public-facing reports and dashboards that show progress without exposing sensitive operational data. This is useful for scrutiny committees and public accountability.
Related terms
Platform
The full platform behind these numbers
Data Upload
Drag & drop your data. No templates, no formatting.
Calculations
Instant Scope 1, 2 & 3 with full audit trail.
Reporting
1-click compliant reports for SECR, CSRD, ISSB.
Reductions
Scenario modelling and target tracking.
Chat
Ask anything about your emissions data.
Suppliers
Automated questionnaires and Scope 3 data.