Kas nutiko
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published its provisional estimate of UK greenhouse gas emissions for 2025 on 28 October 2026. As Michael Holder reported for BusinessGreen, the slight fall was led by manufacturing. The main points, checked against the ONS bulletin and its data tables:
- UK emissions on a residence basis fell 1.0%, from 478 million tonnes CO2e in 2024 to 473 million in 2025, and are 42.4% below 1990.
- Manufacturing fell the most of any industry, from 64 to 58 million tonnes, a 9.7% drop.
- Households' own emissions (fuel burned at home and in private cars) remained the largest single source at 26.5% of the total, and rose 1.0% to 125 million tonnes, led by a 2.6% rise in travel. Transport and storage businesses came next at 16.4%.
- Emissions per £ million of gross value added were unchanged at 0.14 thousand tonnes, or 140 tonnes CO2e.
The ONS table by industry section, in million tonnes CO2e:
| Sektorius | 2024 | 2025 (provisional) | Pokytis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer expenditure (households' own fuel and travel) | 123.9 | 125.2 | +1.0% |
| Transport and storage | 77.8 | 77.6 | -0.3% |
| Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply | 71.0 | 72.6 | +2.3% |
| Manufacturing | 64.1 | 57.9 | -9.7% |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 48.3 | 48.3 | 0.0% |
| Water supply, sewerage and waste | 26.8 | 26.6 | -0.7% |
| Mining and quarrying | 15.2 | 14.6 | -3.9% |
| Wholesale and retail | 12.3 | 12.4 | +0.8% |
| Construction | 11.4 | 11.6 | +1.8% |
These are direct emissions only, which ONS describes as Scope 1 under the GHG Protocol: the fuel an industry burns, its processes and gases such as refrigerants. Electricity counts against the power sector that generates it, which is why the electricity, gas and air conditioning supply sector is so large and an office-based sector such as finance barely registers. All 2025 figures are provisional: ONS rolls 2024 activity data forward using 2025 production data or proxies, so they will be revised.
Ką tai reiškia jūsų įmonei
National figures will not do your reporting for you. A 1% fall across the economy says nothing about your own footprint, which follows your own gas, fuel and electricity use. What the release does give you is a fresh reference point for your industry: ONS publishes direct emissions and emissions per £ million of value added for around 130 industry groups, and the 2025 provisional figures came out alongside this bulletin.
Manufacturers will be asked about it. A sector that cut its direct emissions by almost a tenth in a year sets an expectation. Customers filling in supplier questionnaires and buyers scoring tenders increasingly ask for year-on-year change, and "the whole sector fell 9.7%" is the comparison some will make. If your own figures went the other way, be ready to explain why, for example more output or a colder winter.
Residence basis is not the net zero figure. ONS's residence measure is built to match the national accounts, so emissions can be sorted by industry. Progress towards net zero is tracked on a territorial basis, emissions within the UK's borders, which ONS's methodology puts at 367 million tonnes CO2e for 2025, 54% below 1990. If you quote a UK figure next to yours, say which one it is.
A worked example: one manufacturer against its industry
Take an illustrative small manufacturer that burns 400,000 kWh of gas in its ovens and boilers and 6,000 litres of diesel in its vans in a year, with £1.5 million of gross value added (roughly staff costs plus operating profit plus depreciation).
- Gas: 400,000 kWh at 0.18231 kg CO2e per kWh is 72.92 tonnes CO2e (Scope 1).
- Diesel: 6,000 litres at 2.58354 kg CO2e per litre is 15.50 tonnes (Scope 1).
- Scope 1 in all: 88.43 tonnes, or about 59 tonnes per £ million of value added.
- The latest final ONS figure for manufacturing as a whole, for 2024, is 280 tCO₂e per £ million, so this business sits below its sector average. That is a rough range check, not a score: manufacturing covers everything from bakeries to cement works.
- Matching the sector's 9.7% fall would mean cutting 8.58 tonnes CO2e a year, for example by fixing compressed air and oven insulation and planning van routes.
Figures use the 2026 government conversion factors, the same ones a SECR report or a Carbon Reduction Plan would use.
Ką daryti dabar
- Work out your own Scope 1. Add up the gas, heating oil, diesel and petrol you bought last year, plus any refrigerant top-ups. Our guide to CO2e explains the unit.
- Compare it with your industry. The free industry carbon benchmark sets your Scope 1 per £ million of value added beside the ONS figure for your industry group.
- Explain the change, not just the number. If your emissions rose or fell, note why (output, weather, a new site, a boiler replaced), so the comparison with your sector holds up when a customer asks.
- Quote the right UK figure. If a report needs a national comparison, name the measure: residence (by industry) or territorial (net zero).
