Brighton and Hove city council has cut its greenhouse gas output by over 1,000 tonnes in the space of a year, but councillors in the new administration say rates of progress must be accelerated if the authority is to set a good example on climate change and meet its goal to become the country's greenest city.
The improvement - roughly equivalent to the CO2 emitted by 100 homes - follows the council last year signing up to a national carbon reduction programme called 10:10, which urges everyone to try to cut their emissions by 10 per cent. At the time, the council viewed four per cent as a realistic starting target. Counting electricity and fossil fuel use in council buildings [1] and operations, as well as fuel used in transport, the authority achieved a 3.74 per cent cut between April 2010 and April 2011.
On council buildings alone, however, the council achieved a 7.3% reduction on corporate buildings' gas, oil and electricity use.
As well as concerns about global warming and efficiency, UK councils now face financial penalties for releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Currently priced at £12 per tonne, this national tax imposed by the government will cost the council £261,000 a year initially. But charges will escalate to £30 a tonne by 2020, making sharper reductions achievement even more pressing.
Councillor Jason Kitcat, cabinet member for Finance and Central Services said:
"It's a start, but we need to be much more ambitious. We really need to ramp up our efforts to set an example and inspire the city about what can be achieved. We will be seeking to use our buildings more efficiently as a major step to further reductions in our footprint."
The 10:10 organisation said that by achieving a reduction of more than 3% the council can still be included on a national register of successful participants in the campaign. A spokeswoman said twice as many councils haven't hit 10% as those that have.
A key factor impacting the council's carbon footprint is the age and number of buildings it uses. The council's ‘Workstyles' programme is an urgent project to rationalise office usage to save money and carbon emissions, while enabling more effective ways of working. New tougher targets will be set by the city council's Carbon Management Board and a new local carbon budget developed to sit alongside the annual financial budget.
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Notes
1. 'Council buildings' includes all corporate and housing buildings, but excludes schools.
2. In June, Brighton & Hove's cabinet approved one of the biggest programmes of solar panel installation seen so far on council buildings:
www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/index.cfm?request=b1149084&action=show_pr&id=261925