While the coronavirus pandemic has been overwhelmingly negative on all fronts Cornwall Council has found one benefit – it has helped it reduce its impact on the environment.

A new report shows how the first lockdown in March 2020 had a significant impact on some of the biggest carbon emitting areas of the council.

The details are included in an update on the council’s carbon neutral action plan which is due to go before the neighbourhoods overview and scrutiny committee next week.

It explains how the lockdown forced the council to change how it operates which helped to slash travelling by councillors and staff as well as the amount of paper used for printing.

The report states that more than 4,000 council employees had to switch to working from home which helped to significantly reduce the council’s carbon footprint.

It states: “The past nine months have resulted in an unprecedented change to the way we work, live and travel. The pandemic has caused a transformational shift in our working practices and this has resulted in dramatic changes to our carbon emissions.”

Between April and September 2020 there was a 70% reduction in council business travel reducing emissions by 633 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e).

Staff commute travel was cut with an average reduction of 80,000 miles a day, cutting emissions by around 1,300 tCO2e between April and June 2020.

And with 12 of the council’s 35 core council offices closed or partially closed there was an energy saving of around 270 mega-watt hours or 60 tonnes of carbon over the first three months of lockdown.

In addition the council cut its printing from 2million pages a month before lockdown to just 200,000 a month during lockdown.

While the reductions were a result of the forced lockdown the council says that it shows what can be done.

The report states: “Adopting this approach is of fundamental importance, as the impending climate change emergency has the potential to dwarf the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the process of re-building should take into consideration the environmental impacts of the rebuilding process and societal acceptance that life should not just return to pre-pandemic norms.

“A return to business as usual from an operational perspective would be a missed opportunity, and the economic recovery approach should also focus on more regenerative approaches to economic wellbeing that do not foster carbon intensive practices without a strong rationale.”