Choosing a local cask-ale at the pub saves as much as 2 kg of CO2 per pint over an imported lager. According to a December announcement from the Broads Authority, this is among the small actions individuals can take to address the impacts of climate change. The measures detailed in a recent report cover a variety of more far-reaching initiatives, ranging from carbon retention in soil to cutting CO2 emissions from boats.
The Broads Authority
The Broads Authority manages rivers, estuaries, and wetlands across Norfolk and Suffolk. Its brief includes the protection and maintenance of the area’s natural and cultural resources, promotion of public enjoyment of the Broads, and protecting the interests of navigation.
Assessing the Broads’ carbon footprint
Calling the necessity to address climate change ‘urgent’, the Authority has commissioned research to assess the carbon emissions generated by residents, visitors, and businesses in the area. This effort is part of a larger research project initiated by UK National Parks, and involves an estimate of the Broads’ carbon footprint by Small World, a consulting firm associated with Lancaster University. The resulting report features recommendations for a 30-year transition to a low-carbon economy.
Progress to zero carbon
This is not a new initiative: The Authority pledged in 2019 to achieve carbon-neutral internal operations by 2030, and zero carbon by 2040. This ambitious goal requires that the agency cut its emissions in half in the next eight years. The report details significant reductions already achieved, especially in vehicle and equipment use, its largest source of CO2 emissions. The Authority claims an overall 21% reduction over the past three years.
Specific schemes include helping farmers lock carbon into soils; replacing diesel fuel with hydrotreated vegetable oil; bringing in electric vehicles and vessels as old ones age out of service; switching to renewable electricity tariffs; and meeting online to eliminate transportation to in-person events. The Broads can count on some support in these efforts from the UK Government, which plans to phase out the production of new domestic vessels that are not ‘net-zero capable’ by 2025.
Working together
John Packman, Chief Executive of the Broads Authority, reports that the agency is working with a number of partners to achieve net zero. Along with local MPs and councils, these partners include:
- The Broadland Futures Initiative, aimed at flood risk management tailored to our changing climate and rising sea level;
- Electrifying the Broads, which engages boatyards in the transition to electric and zero-emission propulsion;
- The Norfolk and Suffolk Climate Change Partnerships, dedicated to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport and nature restoration projects;
- The Broads Peat Partnership, working with farmers and landowners to restore natural processes that store carbon, keep air and water clean, protect from flooding, and fortify biodiversity;
- The CANAPE project, an international peatland restoration partnership to reduce CO2 emissions in wetland areas similar to the Broads.
Achievements so far
Regular denizens of the Broads have already noticed some changes calculated to reduce emissions. Nineteen 24-hour moorings, for example, now boast electric charging points for vessels. More will soon be installed at Great Yarmouth, with further sites planned for electric vehicle charging points. Promising though these developments are, however, the Authority has yet to develop plans for zero-emission heavy equipment, such as the excavators used for river management.
How you can help
What can we, as individuals, do to support these crucial efforts to protect and sustain our beautiful Broads? Well, there’s that local cask ale to be championed—yes, it’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it… According to the Broads Authority, though, one of the best things you can do to reduce the impacts of climate change is to take public transport whenever possible (especially after a few of those cask ales!). Taking the train from Norwich to Wroxham to hire a dayboat, for example, cuts the journey’s CO2 by a whopping 80%. Opting for an electric, rather than a diesel-fuelled, dayboat saves 15 kg of CO2 a day. Meanwhile, if you’d like to visit the Broads, you can take advantage of a £2 bus fare on offer from January to March 2023.
Priorities for 2023
Members of the Broads Authority Committee have been asked to consider which areas of climate change mitigation to prioritise. So far, actions approved for 2023 include electrification of boating, a new sustainable tourism strategy, installing vehicle charging points, and continuing to work with the Broads Peat Partnership to restore peatlands across the Broads. To help implement Small World’s recommendations, the Authority has submitted a bid to the government’s ‘Pioneer Places’ fund. The bid seeks ways to overcome barriers such as the expense of technology and a lack of accessible places for electric charging points.
