Support to the States of Jersey on GHG emissions and climate action

Aether has been working with the States of Jersey Department of the Environment since 2016 to create user friendly outputs to provide information on greenhouse gas emissions and climate action. This builds on the work done through the UK Inventory to increase engagement with the inventory data and related datasets. The central piece of work has been to create a data visualisation of emissions and climate actions, but projects have also included technical reports and other outputs.

The challenge

Emissions data can be complex and detailed. Policy makers and technical users often do not have time to explore the data in depth whilst non-technical users often struggle to understand and interpret the complex datasets. However, climate change poses a risk to Jersey economically, environmentally and socially and there is therefore a need to understand the data and take action. There is also a need for prioritisation of action due to resource constraints and this ties into a need for more joined-up policy making.

The solution

Since 2016, Aether has been on a Framework contract with Jersey and has been producing outputs that encourage engagement with and understanding of climate change data and actions. The solutions provided by Aether to date are detailed below:

In 2016 Aether compiled two technical reports, one on emissions from fluorinated gases in Jersey and the other on carbon sequestration of soils. 2016 was also the year that Aether created the first version of the greenhouse gas emissions data visualisation, an online, interactive data viewer that provides information on emissions past present and future.

In 2017 Aether created several outputs for the States of Jersey:

• Report on Wider impacts of climate action: Aether created a report that analyses the possible additional impacts (positive and negative) from climate action. It identified the synergies and conflicts between climate actions and other economic, social and environmental national strategies. The investigation for this report included a stakeholder workshop in Jersey which brought together public and private sector stakeholders to think about possible wider impacts and barriers to implementation of climate actions in Jersey.
• Data visualisation: The data visualisation developed in 2016 was developed to include new indicators, flexibility for different devices and a visualisation of the wider impacts report findings.
• Future risk of climate change report: Aether compiled a report on the possible future risk to national strategies from climate change. Using the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment, this report identified which economic, social and environmental strategies in Jersey were most at risk from future climate change.
• Climate Change Lessons Plans for Schools: Aether developed a set of materials to assist the creation of lesson plans on climate change and air quality issues for Eco-schools in Jersey. These materials provided a basic explanation of the key issues and themes and provided links to further information and useful resources. The materials made frequent reference to the data visualisation to encourage engagement with the data in schools.

In 2018 Aether released an update to the data visualisation that includes the latest inventory data and the incorporation of additional datasets that provide context and support the analysis of trends.

The result

Aether’s work has:

• Provided non-technical audiences with a greater understanding of greenhouse gas emissions data and climate change actions through the provision of easy to understand information
• Informed decision making through greater interaction with the data by technical users, policy makers and decision makers, facilitated by the ability to explore the data in an efficient and flexible way
• Increased engagement with stakeholders as more users access the data and associated information.

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