The Welsh government are consulting on plans to decarbonise its public sector by 2030, in order to help the UK reach its targets of reducing its carbon emissions by at least 80% by 2050.
Lesley Griffiths, the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, has spoken out about her determination for the Welsh public sector to become carbon neutral by 2030. She said:
“I believe the public sector should lead by example in reducing emissions, which is why I would like to see the sector be carbon neutral by 2030.”
As the public sector in Wales only contributes to a small proportion of carbon emissions, the aim is to influence other sectors such as transport, energy and land use to reduce their emissions also.
In addition to confronting air pollution issues, the approach proposes to have an encouraging influence on the local economy by reducing energy costs and producing investment opportunities for the low carbon economy.
Currently, the Welsh government are investing more than £2million to help identify and carry out renewable/energy efficiency projects across its public sector.
Jennifer Kelly, leading the Carbon Positive Project for Natural Resources Wales said:
“One opportunity we’ve identified is that, by using current low emission technologies in our fleet, we could cut emissions by up to 27%, and reduce costs by 5%. We’ve also been delivering some exciting demonstration projects to take action on our carbon impact now, including introducing electric vehicles, installing renewable energy and restoring peatland habitats.”
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