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The biggest buzz words in the climate change debate are ‘carbon' and ‘footprint', but are councils doing their bit to reduce emissions? More than 200 local authorities have signed up to the Nottingham Declaration on climate change and have pledged to work with others in their locality to cut carbon emissions. But David Martin, public sector general manager from Siemens Financial Services, says a recent survey carried out by his company shows that only 20% of public sector organisations are now measuring their carbon footprint, compared with an average figure of 25% in all sectors. The Siemens survey revealed that the public and private sector were ‘neck-and-neck' in terms of measuring their total power consumption. Just over 56% of public sector respondents said they measured consumption, while the average total for all sectors was 53%. The survey also found that 36% of organisations in the public sector had already invested in equipment with a reduced carbon footprint. Mr Martin says Siemens works with half the councils in the UK, providing everything from computers to wind turbines, and from hearing aids to streetlights. He adds that there are many ways a council can cut its carbon footprint. For example, one metropolitan council in the North reduced the mileage of its fleet by 5% by fitting satellite navigation equipment to its vehicles. Other authorities have used Siemens laptops in their schools. Ninety per cent of the components in the laptops can be recycled, making them more environmentally friendly. Mr Martin says the main reasons councils are investing in new low-carbon products are the reduced running costs involved. But, he added that more needed to be done to encourage councils to cut carbon emissions, particularly by the Government. ‘If ministers want to see serious change in this market there has to be regulatory change to make these assets more affordable,' he says. The Siemens survey showed the main obstacles for public sector organisations, such as councils, investing in low carbon technologies was the limited range of equipment available (36%), and not being able to afford the capital cost of replacing equipment (33%). Mr Martin says more needs to be done to help councils spread the cost of buying low carbon capital goods. ‘Climate change is, without doubt, the greatest challenge we face,' says Siemens Financial Services chief executive, Jonathan Andrew. ‘The next few years will be critical if the UK is serious about establishing a low carbon economy and meeting its targets for reducing carbon emissions. ‘As our report highlights, business is starting to do its bit. But equipment manufacturers, financiers and government need to do more to bridge the all-important affordability gap,' he adds. A report last year from the Carbon Trust, which was set up by the Government to help both public and private organisations cut their carbon footprint, revealed that councils used 26bn kilowatt-hours a year. This resulted in more than 6.9mt of CO2 emissions each year. The most common areas of excessive energy consumption were lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and office equipment. The trust launched a local authority carbon-management programme in 2003, which has, so far, worked with 143 councils across the UK, and achieved annual savings of £33m by identifying 500,000 million tonnes of CO2 emissions to be cut. A report in December 2007 by the Local Government Association's climate change commission called on councils to cut carbon emissions by one-third by 2010. ‘Climate change is the most important long-term priority for local government,' says LGA chair Sir Simon Milton. ‘It is a test of the sector's credibility and reputation. It is as important now as public health and sanitation were to our Victorian predecessors.'

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CLIMATE CHANGE

Councils are dragging their feet on footprints

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