Jersey’s emissions fell 1% in 2024 — but road transport and heating still dominate

The Government of Jersey has published its latest annual greenhouse gas inventory, covering emissions from 1990 to 2024. The figures, produced by independent organisation Aether, show that Jersey emitted 342,589 tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2024 — a 1% decrease on the previous year.

The overall trend is positive. Other than a post-pandemic bump in 2021, emissions have fallen consistently every year since 2016, and are now 49% below 1990 levels. The single biggest driver has been the Jersey Electricity Company’s shift to importing clean French nuclear and hydroelectric power, which collapsed Scope 2 emissions for the entire island.

Where the emissions are

The inventory breaks down emissions by activity. For Jersey businesses, three categories dominate:

Fossil fuel car journeys alone account for 25% of Jersey’s total emissions. That’s a quarter of the island’s carbon footprint coming from one activity — and it’s one that every business with a fleet, staff commute or delivery operation contributes to.

What this means for businesses

The new Environment Minister, Mary Le Hegarat, has committed to delivering the Carbon Neutral Roadmap — the government’s plan to reach net zero by 2050. That means the regulatory direction is clear: businesses will face increasing pressure to measure, report, and reduce their emissions.

But there’s a problem with the current reporting cycle. The inventory published in 2026 covers data from 2024. That’s a two-year lag. By the time the government publishes island-wide figures, the year being reported on is already in the past. Businesses that rely solely on the annual inventory to understand their footprint are always looking backwards.

This is where 321ZERO comes in. The platform lets you see youremissions in real time — not the island’s aggregate two years later. You enter the figures you already have (electricity bills, fuel receipts, waste and travel), and 321ZERO applies the correct Jersey factors and shows you where you stand today.

The sector breakdown maps to 321ZERO

The inventory’s three biggest categories — heating (28%), road transport (27%), and shipping & aviation (21%) — are exactly what 321ZERO tracks:

• Heating: Gas oil, LPG, kerosene — Scope 1, with Jersey-specific factors for electricity used for heating (Scope 2).
• Road transport: Petrol, diesel, biodiesel — Scope 1 for company vehicles, Scope 3 for staff commuting and business travel.
• Shipping & aviation: Ferry and flight emissions — Scope 3 for most businesses, with factors sourced from DEFRA.

If your business operates in hospitality, construction, retail, transport, finance or professional services, your emissions hotspots align with what the inventory shows. 321ZERO’s sector presets start you with the activities that matter most to you.

The two-year lag problem

The government’s inventory is valuable for understanding the island’s trajectory. But it can’t tell a business owner whether last month’s energy switch made a difference. It can’t show whether you’re on track for your Eco-Active return. It can’t help you decide between two suppliers based on carbon.

321ZERO fills that gap. You get:

• Current-year data — see your emissions as you enter data, not two years later
• Jersey-specific factors — the same 0.0441 kgCO₂e/kWh grid factor the government uses, not the UK average that overstates your electricity emissions 5×
• Eco-Active export — compile your annual return throughout the year, not in a March scramble
• Scope 1, 2 and 3 — not just electricity and fuel, but waste, water, commuting and procurement

The bottom line

Jersey is moving in the right direction — 49% below 1990 levels is significant. But the remaining 51% is harder. The easy wins (clean electricity) are done. The next reductions come from road transport, heating, and aviation — areas where individual business decisions matter.

The Carbon Neutral Roadmap is going to tighten expectations on businesses. The businesses that start measuring now will be the ones that can show progress when it does. The ones that wait will be playing catch-up with a spreadsheet that was last updated in 2020.

Source: Bailiwick Express, ‘Environment Minister commits to carbon neutrality plan as emissions continue to fall’, 23 July 2026. Inventory data produced by Aether for the Government of Jersey.