Mar 8 2007
Government must not just set targets to become more sustainable - it must deliver them, Environment Secretary David Miliband said today (Wed).
Responding to the Sustainable Development Commission's annual report on how the Government was meeting its sustainable operations objectives, Mr Miliband acknowledged progress was slower than he would like and is not adequate to meet the increasing pace of change that was needed.
The Government announced last year a set of far-reaching and stretching outcome focused targets, including the commitment to make the central government office estate carbon neutral by 2012 and to reduce office carbon emissions by 30 per cent by 2020. Other targets include reducing waste and water consumption and increasing recycling.
Mr Miliband said the Government was putting some of the building blocks in place but that there was more that needed to be done.
"Government is committed to playing its role in tackling climate change and reducing emissions - alongside the actions already being taken by business and individuals.
"Earlier this week, John Healey and I announced how we are going to use procurement to deliver those targets and to help move the UK towards a low carbon economy.
"I have asked Gus O'Donnell to take personal charge and we have asked the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit to recommend by the end of April the structures we need to put in place to ensure these targets are delivered."
Mr Miliband added that he had also initiated work to look at opportunities for further progress in the public sector in four key areas.
- Achieving low carbon new public sector buildings - one of the first will be a new Defra office in Alnwick, Northumberland, which will open in 2008.
- Further reducing the carbon footprint of our travel. The Government has already committed to offsetting carbon dioxide emissions from official and Ministerial air travel from April 2006 and will publish an updated new car average CO2 emissions target later this Spring. Defra is already offsetting its train travel.
- Deployment of emerging technologies in the public sector which makes them more affordable to the consumer and helps Government meet its targets. Defra and DTI will take this initiative forward, looking firstly at lighting
- How greater use of on-site renewable energy generation and green energy tariffs can help to reduce carbon emissions, expand the supply of renewable energy and show commitment to promoting green energy.
Defra is also working with the Carbon Trust through its Carbon Management Programme to reduce emissions across its Departmental estate.
And the Department has also asked independent environmental organisation BioRegional to work with them on raising their level of ambition above that of meeting the Government targets. BioRegional is working with Defra to see what it means to be a "One Planet Living(r) Department and what additional action Defra would need to meet this. One Planet Living(r) is a joint initiative of BioRegional and WWF based upon 10 guiding principles of sustainability.