Right tree, right place This year we created the Vector Urban Forest, an initiative that has resulted in 31,000 native trees and other plants being introduced into urban areas of Auckland. The Vector Urban Forest stems from a promise we have made to plant two native trees for every tree we cut down to protect Auckland’s power lines. The initiative has two purposes – firstly, to encourage Aucklanders to be smart about planting near power lines, and secondly to help regenerate Auckland’s ecosystems which provide key environmental and social benefits. In establishing urban forests, Vector is aiming to create a future positive legacy for the residents of Auckland too. With 20,000 to 30,000 trees to be planted each year, the initiative will help address the issue of tree inequality within Auckland by targeting areas with lower canopy cover, which generally coincide with lower socioeconomic groups. Vector’s Urban Forest will help to create a valuable resource for neighbouring communities. This initiative is engaging our staff and suppliers also. It’s encouraging them to step outside their everyday roles and connect with the natural environment through planting, as well as building relationships across the wider Vector business.
Greenhouse gas emissions Our primary emission sources are associated with our gas processing operation at Kapuni, which represents around 83.0% of Vector’s total emissions. These emissions increased by 9% in FY19 due to increases in the CO 2 content of the raw gas supplied and a growth in demand for gas in the New Zealand economy. Our Scope 2 emissions, which relate to our purchased electricity (all sites) and the electricity distribution losses from our Auckland electricity network, decreased by 18% during FY19. This resulted from slightly lower electricity distribution losses and a reduction in the published emissions factor for these emission types. Vector reports on emissions associated with distribution losses, these fluctuate, with demands for different energy sources and the
generation mix for electricity, both of which are outside our control. We are reporting Scope 3 emissions, which relate to fuel consumption for all our key field service providers, for the first time. The largest source of these Scope 3 emissions is the service delivery vehicles used by our network maintenance crews. We have successfully addressed some ‘low-hanging fruit’ in our corporate emissions profile by continuing to transition our corporate fleet to EV or hybrid vehicles. This transition resulted in a 12.6% reduction in associated carbon emissions in our OnGas sales fleet. Other initiatives have included installing solar power on buildings, including some substations, and changing the fuel used in our mobile generator fleet to bio-diesel.
For FY19, we have expanded our carbon reporting to include Scope 1 and 2 data for our PowerSmart business, as well as fuel consumption by our main service providers in New Zealand and Australia (Scope 3). To gain a better understanding of carbon exposure, the business has also identified a number of key products that are high in carbon and has calculated an estimate of embodied emissions. For the second consecutive year we have successfully exceeded our corporate carbon intensity reduction target, with a 17% reduction compared with a target of 5%. This covers business travel, fleet fuel use and electricity consumption across our offices and is a ratio of tCO 2 e to EBITDA. Since 2017 we have reduced this intensity value by 32% (a reduction of absolute emissions by 30% for these sources).
TOTAL CARBON BASELINE
% Change from FY17 baseline
FY17 (adjusted)*
FY18 (adjusted)*
FY19
Scope 1** Scope 2** Scope 3**
341,964 371,084 402,575 +17.72%
31,599
29,070
23,768 -24.78%
–
5,869
11,009
* Baseline and FY18 Scope 1 and 2 data adjusted due to changes in published emission factors for the relevant reporting year. The emissions associated with our gas distribution network increased 5.67% in FY17 and 3.5% in FY18. ** Scope 3 emission sources include business travel and fuel consumption for our key service providers in each business unit. Our Scope 1 and 2 carbon data is inclusive of the co-generation facility at Kapuni Gas Treatment Plant, which has been apportioned 50% between the two joint venture parties but excludes emissions from E-Co Products Group Limited.
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