Improvements come from reductions in emissions from road vehicles, less waste and consumption of water and an increase in recyclingThe government estate emitted 10% less carbon dioxide in the last financial year than in 1999, according to a report published today. Environmentalists welcomed the improvement but argued that government departments had to be much more ambitious if they were to play a significant part in meeting the
UK's overall carbon reduction targets.The Office of Government Commerce (OGC), which tracks sustainability across government buildings, said the improvements across Whitehall have come from reductions in CO2 emissions from road vehicles, less waste and consumption of water, and an increase in recycling.Central government departments have a target to reduce CO2 emissions from road vehicles used for administrative business by 15% by 2010-11 relative to a 2005-06 baseline.OGC figures showed that departments have already achieved a reduction of 17% and forecasts an actual drop of 23.7% by 2010-11. The OGC also found that 48.3% of waste from central government departments is now recycled, whereas the target for 2010-11 is 40%. Almost 70% of waste will be recycled by 2010-11, said the OGC.Overall, the government has committed the UK to reducing its carbon footprint by 34% by 2020 and 80% by 2050.The OGC's figures have been analysed by the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), and its vice chair, Rebecca Willis, welcomed the improvements. "The stand-out for me is that the government has made huge efforts over the past couple of years to find out where they stand and start tackling action and we're really pleased to see that."But though Whitehall's progress had been good against its own targets, Willis said the improvements did not look so impressive when measured against the scale of the actions required to deal with climate change."They should be looking at what the Committee on Climate Change says the country should do and work out wha ...
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