Defra’s Dale Eynon on the goal of achieving zero emissions by 2027

Two years ago, Dale Eynon (left) presented a new strategy to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) executive directors team setting out an ambitious blueprint to achieve a 45% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 across the fleet of vehicles, boats and plant. Set against a 2020 baseline, the plan includes transitioning to a zero-emission vehicle fleet by 2027.

The strategy has been written to dovetail with Defra’s target of net carbon zero for the Environment Agency, its biggest public body, by 2030.

That was in February 2020; a month later, the country went into Covid lockdown and the strategy was shelved as emergency measures and a completely new way of working changed the profile of the business.

It has taken until this year for group fleet services director Eynon to dust off the documents and rework the timelines. The 2030 deadline remains; it’s just the speed of change that has been revised. Instead of a decade of transition, Defra now has less than eight years to achieve its target.

Eynon is unfazed by the shortened schedule. He had already made substantial progress during 17 years at Environment Agency, which makes up the bulk of the Defra fleet.

Phase one will “transform how we manage our lease cars”, he says. “We recognised that our business has been changing and part of the money we get from Government in grants and aid has been reduced for certain activities, such as lower-level pollutions, inspections and monitoring. We had to reflect that in our car use to show that we continue to provide good value for money, and we are managing our business correctly.”

Since March 2020, the car fleet has decreased from around 4,000 to 3,350. By 2030, the target is 2,000.