GSS theme workplan – Environment, Climate & Nature

Lead departments are provided for each statistical release. Acronyms are used, with full names in the below section on leading and supporting departments for these statistics. Each release also details whether the statistics are designated as official statistics in development, official statistics or accredited official statistics.

Emissions & Pollution

• Territorial emissions statistics (DESNZ) – Annual emissions within the UK’s borders. These are taken from the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory, a consistent time series of UK greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 onwards. Provisional data is also available, including quarterly emissions estimates, as well as greenhouse gas emissions by Local Authority and Standard Industrial Classification (SIC).
• Residence-based emissions statistics (ONS) – Annual emissions from UK residents and UK-registered businesses, regardless of whether they are in the UK or overseas, including air pollution statistics. Annual provisional data and quarterly emissions data also produced.
• UK carbon footprint emissions statistics (Defra) – Annual emissions associated with UK consumption, regardless of where they occur in the world.
• Measuring UK greenhouse gas emissions (ONS) – summary of the three measures of UK greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: territorial, residence and footprint.
• Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland(NAEI) – greenhouse gas inventories for the UK’s four nations.
• Air quality and emissions statistics (Defra) – A series bringing together all documents relating to air quality and emissions statistics.
• Transport energy and environment statistics (DfT) – Statistics on the impact of transport on the environment, including greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants from transport. Data tables for these, including energy tables, are also available.

Environmental economy

• UK Environmental Accounts (ONS) – Annual measurements of the contribution of the environment to the economy, impact of economic activity on the environment, and response to environmental issues. This includes residence-based greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and environmental protection expenditure accounts. Annual provisional GHG emissions data are published separately around September.
• UK Natural Capital Accounts (ONS) – Annual estimates of the financial and societal value of natural resources to people in the UK. The ONS produces habitat accounts, which value the natural capital of the ecosystem services within 8 different habitats: woodland; urban; freshwater; enclosed farmland; mountain, moorland and heath; semi-natural grassland; coastal margins and; marine.
• UK Environmental Taxes (ONS) – Annual value and composition of UK environmental taxes, by type of tax and economic activity, and comparisons with other European countries.
• Low carbon and renewable energy economy survey (ONS) – Annual estimates of the size of the UK’s low carbon and renewable energy economy, including turnover and employment, on a direct and indirect (including supply chain) basis.
• Environmental protection expenditure survey (ONS) – Annual estimates of environmental protection expenditure with breakdowns by UK industry and activity.
• Experimental estimates of green jobs (ONS) – Twice-yearly estimates of UK green jobs using the using the industry, occupation and firm measurement approaches.

Resource Management, Energy & Waste

• Material flow and Material footprint accounts (ONS) – Annual data on the UK’s domestic extraction, imports and exports and flow of materials (biomass, minerals and fossil fuels).
• England’s Material Footprint (Defra) – Statistics on the material footprint, or raw material consumption, associated with final demand in England.
• Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DESNZ) – Information on energy production, trade, and consumption in the UK for total energy and by specific fuels.
• Energy Consumption in the UK (DESNZ) – Information for overall energy consumption in the UK with details of the industry, transport, domestic and services sectors.
• Energy trends (DESNZ) – Quarterly publication which presents data on the supply and demand of all the major fuels in the UK.
• Transport energy and environment: fuel consumption data tables (DfT) – Data about fuel consumption for different transport modes and fuel types, including petrol and diesel prices.
• Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure statistics (DfT) – Electric vehicle charging infrastructure statistics, including publicly available devices and grants provided by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles.
• UK statistics on Waste (Defra) – Statistics on waste produced at a UK level.
• Waste and Recycling statistics (Defra) – A series bringing together all documents relating to Waste and recycling statistics. A digest of waste and resources statistics is also published.
• Waste data interrogator (Environment Agency) – Data on waste including waste received and removed at permitted sites.
• Energy Performance of Buildings Certificates (MHCLG) – Quarterly publications from certificates held on the Energy Performance of Buildings Register in England and Wales. Monthly open data (MHCLG) and further annual analysis (ONS) are also available.
• English Housing Survey (MHCLG) – Information and publications on the English Housing Survey, which includes a low carbon technologies factsheet.
• Low Carbon Energy (Welsh Government) – Reducing carbon emissions, energy service.
• Energy Statistics (Scottish Government) – Statistical publications relating to energy in Scotland.
• Energy Statistics (NISRA) – Northern Ireland energy statistics published by NISRA statisticians within the Department for the Economy’s Analytical Services Division.

Weather & water quality

• UK climate time series (Met Office) – Monthly, seasonal and annual climate series maintained by the Met Office National Climate Information Centre, available by region and climate parameter, such as temperature and sunshine.
• Gridded UK Climate Data (Met Office) – A collection of gridded (1km x 1km resolution) climate variables informed by land surface observations across the UK.
• Annual State of the UK Climate (Met Office) – Annual publication which provides an up-to-date assessment of the UK climate.
• Annual State of the Climate (American Meteorological Society, contributions from Met Office) – A detailed update on global climate indicators, notable weather events, and other data collected by environmental monitoring stations and instruments located on land, water, ice, and in space.
• Global Climate Dashboard (Met Office) – A dashboard which gathers together the key indicators of climate change.
• Met Office Integrated Data Archive System (MIDAS) Open (Met Office) – Hourly and daily weather measurements and observations of parameters relating to temperature, rainfall, sunshine, radiation, wind and weather observations such as present weather codes, cloud cover, snow etc.
• Water quality and abstraction statistics (Defra) – A series bringing together all documents relating to water quality and abstraction statistics.
• Water situation reports for England (Environment Agency) – Monthly water situation reports and weekly rainfall and river flow reports.
• UK sea fisheries annual statistics and Monthly UK sea fisheries statistics (MMO) – Annual and monthly figures providing a broad picture of the UK fishing industry and its operations.
• Marine and coastal margins, natural capital accounts (ONS) – Natural capital accounts containing information on the extent, condition and ecosystem services for marine and coastal areas in the UK.
• Flooding and coastal erosion statistics (Welsh Government) – Flood warnings and flood prevention statistics.
• Water statistics (Welsh Government) – Water quality and management, sewers, drainage systems.
• Flooding statistics (SEPA) – Scottish live flood updates and long-term flood risk through flood maps.
• Water levels (SEPA) – Scottish water levels information by station.
• Flood maps NI (Department for Infrastructure, Northern Ireland) – An interactive map-viewer that enables users to access the latest Northern Ireland flood hazard information available from government.

Land & Soil

• Land Cover Maps (UKCEH) – UK land cover maps describing the physical material on the surface of the UK, providing an uninterrupted national dataset of land cover classes from grassland, woodland and fresh water to urban and suburban built-up areas.
• Local Authority Green Belt statistics (MHCLG) – A collection of annual documents relating to green belt statistics for England by Local Authority.
• England Peat Map (Natural England) – A map of England’s peaty soils, that models the extent, depth, and condition of our peat including vegetation and upland peat erosion and drainage feature.
• Soil erosion and compaction risk (Defra) – A standardised framework for classifying soil into simplified groups to assess soil structure, incorporating factors like erosion risk, drainage, and organic matter content.
• Peat usage in growing media production (Defra) – Data on composition of growing media supplied for amateur and professional use horticultural markets.
• Open Data (NatureScot) – Provides downloadable geospatial datasets and interactive maps on protected areas, species distributions, land use and habitat types

Biodiversity & Ecosystem

• England biodiversity indicators (Defra) – A strategy for England’s wildlife and ecosystem services, Biodiversity indicators: 2024 assessment.
• Biodiversity and wildlife statistics (Defra) – A series bringing together all documents relating to biodiversity and wildlife statistics.
• Forestry statistics (Forestry Commission) – A compilation of statistics on woodland, forestry and primary wood processing in the UK.
• Sustainable development indicators (Defra) – A series bringing together all the Sustainable Development indicators.
• State of Scotland nature report (NatureScot) – A review of how nature in Scotland is faring, providing evidence of the twin biodiversity and climate crises.

Environment & Human Health

• Standards for Official Statistics on Climate-Health interactions (SOSCHI) (ONS) – A 4-year Wellcome funded project to develop a global framework for official statistics on climate and health. This project is in the final beta phase, with a current end date of June 2026. The framework aims to develop globally generalisable methods to better estimate climate-related health risk using real-world data sources, including modelling sub-national impacts.
• Access to nature statistics (Defra) – A series bringing together all documents relating to access to nature.
• Overview of potential human pathogens in the environment (Environment Agency) – Reviews pathogens to which people can be exposed through water, land and air, now and in the future.

Additional statistics

• Statistics at DESNZ (DESNZ) – additional DESNZ statistics, such as fuel poverty, energy efficiency schemes and the National Energy Efficiency Data-Framework (NEED).
• Public Attitudes Tracker (DESNZ) – A triannual survey on public awareness, behaviours and attitudes relating to the department’s policy areas.
• Public Opinions and Social Trends (ONS) and Business Insights and Impact on the UK economy (ONS) – Rapid surveys containing questions on public and business attitudes and actions to climate change, including climate risks and adaptation.
• State of Natural Resources report (Natural Resources Wales) – An assessment of the sustainable management of natural resources in Wales.
• Wales Environmental Information Portal (Natural Resources Wales) – Interactive information portal bringing together data about the natural environment in Wales.
• Scottish Climate Survey (Scottish Government) – A survey of public awareness, attitudes and actions relating to climate change.
• Environment Statistics (Scottish Government) – Environment statistics published by the Scottish Government, including greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint.
• Environment Statistics from the Scottish Household Survey (Scottish Government) – Key points from questions in the Scottish Household Survey relating to climate change and the environment.
• Northern Ireland environmental statistics report (DAERA) – An annual compendium which reports on a range of environmental indicators and provides links to government strategies.
• Defra group bodies also publish a wide range of additional environmental statistics as well as food, farming, biosecurity, marine and rural. Although relevant, these are less in scope of the theme group.

Members of the theme group plan to continue to develop a shared vision for environment statistics and data across the wider GSS, maintain existing suite of outputs, including regular publications and deliverables to other organisations, and continue to enhance outputs with activities taking place within this year.

For example, for DESNZ this includes:

• First release of data on hydrogen production and use in refining and chemical sectors.
• Developing outputs which reflect changes to policy schemes.
• Adding information such as domestic battery storage and ongoing work on solar deployment statistics.

Examples of this within Defra include:

• Continue to develop access to green and blue space statistics.
• Continue to develop indicators of species abundance and start work on indicators of species distribution.

Examples of this within ONS include:

• Make progress towards official statistics status for the Natural Capital Accounts and make progress towards redeveloping existing legacy systems for processing environmental economy surveys.
• Include environmental questions in their public and business surveys.
• Continue to develop inclusive income and wealth statistics, including experimenting with nowcasting methods to produce timelier estimates.

Examples of work also include:

• Collaboration between MHCLG and DESNZ to incorporate data from Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) for new dwellings into DESNZ’s quarterly official statistics publication about heat pump installations.
• MHCLG are developing a new quarterly data release of building regulations related to energy efficiency: conservation of fuel and power (Part L) monitoring data, based on EPC data, showing energy efficiency characteristics of new dwellings (such as heat pumps and solar PVs).
• Make use of existing networks across the GSS theme and Defra-led Environmental Reporting Network to facilitate discussion and share good practice on wider environmental reporting and statistics.
• Defra to coordinate and support the increased alignment of existing UK and country Biodiversity Indicators with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, and commission indicator development research where required, for reporting in 2026.
• ONS to lead development of a transparent and globally usable framework for official statistics on climate and health, with accompanying statistical methods to better estimate climate-related health risk using real-world data sources, including modelling local-level impacts.
• ONS are developing and updating a smaller set of measures in the UK Measures of National Well-being dashboard quarterly, and updating the full 60-measure set annually.
• MHCLG creating a new open data platform (including API functionality) for EPC register data to replace the current externally hosted platform.

Proposed activity is largely related to or expanding on existing statistics. We do not anticipate any new statistical publications this year at this time, so activity reflects development of existing suite of outputs. This will include evolving releases to reflect new phases of energy efficiency schemes.

Generally, no substantial changes are planned to existing publications in this theme. Changes may be made in accordance with ongoing development work, where required, for example on some of our accredited official statistics in development, such as Defra’s access to green space and indicators species abundance.

Our highest priority remains ensuring quality and sustainability of our outputs and methodologies while managing growing needs and demands.

For example, DESNZ is focused on enhancing the accuracy and relevance of energy balances, price statistics, increasing scope of heat pump deployment data, as well as developing statistics in response to evolving government strategies, policy changes, and new schemes. Internal processes are being modernised for greater resilience and efficiency, including a transition to Reproducible Analytical Pipelines. Continuous improvements are also planned for greenhouse gas emissions statistics, supported by annual programmes and public engagement, to ensure transparency, accessibility, and consistency with international reporting standards.

These statistics span multiple policy departments, agencies, public bodies and devolved administrations, including:

• Office for National Statistics (ONS)
• Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra)
• Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)
• Natural England
• Environment Agency
• Department for Business and Trade (DBT)
• UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)
• Department for Transport (DfT)
• Met Office
• Office of Rail and Road (ORR)
• Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)
• Cabinet Office
• HM Treasury
• Foreign, Commonwealth & Development office (FCDO)
• Ministry of Defence (MoD)
• Welsh Government
• Natural Resources Wales
• Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), Northern Ireland
• Scottish Government
• NatureScot
• National Physical Laboratory
• Government Actuary’s Department (GAD)
• Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)

This work relates to multiple levels of geographies, including UK-wide, local authority level and national. In some cases, international comparisons are also included.

Most coverage is UK, but some are England, NI, Scotland, Wales or GB, for example, which may reflect the policy arrangements.

Granularity also varies, depending on the underlying data instrument, and regional or local authority breakdowns may be available. For example, DESNZ publishes Local Authority level emissions statistics in their June release, whereas data on energy balances and prices tend to be UK-level with some regional (ITL1) breakdowns.