Sustainable development in government 2008
On 12 December 2008, the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) published a report which reveals that, while departmental results are mixed for 2007/08, the government as a whole is on track to meet most major sustainability targets, except carbon emissions and combined heat and power (CHP).
The report notes that departments have made significant progress towards reducing waste, water consumption and emissions from road travel. However, while carbon emissions from offices show a decline from last year, they are still not falling fast enough to meet the target of a 12.5% reduction by 2010/11. In addition, while recycling and electricity sourced from renewables are both on course to meet targets, both are down on last year’s totals.
The report presents a wide range of evidence. Key findings include:
- Carbon emissions from offices are down 6.3% since the baseline year. This is an improvement of 2.3% from last year, but still not on track to meet the 2010/11 target of a 12.5% reduction;
- 8.7% of electricity was produced by CHP, compared to last year’s 5.8%. However, this is still not on track to meet the target of 15% by 2010;
- Carbon emissions from road vehicles have declined impressively with a reduction of 10.3% from the baseline, compared to an increase of 1.5% against the baseline last year;
- Total waste was down 28.8% - already exceeding targets. This is also a dramatic improvement since last year when only a 5.3% reduction in waste was reported;
- 35% of waste was recycled. However, this was a slight drop compared to last year (38.5%);
- 22% of electricity was derived from renewable sources - but this is down from 28.3% last year;
- Water consumption was down 17.8% - a considerable improvement compared to last year’s 0.1% reduction against the baseline;
- All departments indicated that their Permanent Secretaries (or equivalent) have had sustainability targets incorporated into their performance agreements.
Sustainable development in government 2008
