Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Another blow to the target culture
An article in today's Guardian highlights yet another set of targets the government are on course to miss, this time on carbon emissions.
The paper tells us that the government is in danger of losing credibility on climate change because more than half of all its departments are failing to reduce their carbon emissions enough to reach levels that the nation as a whole is expected to meet:
Apart from the Ministry of Defence, which significantly reduced its emissions in 2005/6 following a part privatisation, central government now emits 22% more than it did in 1999, according to the sustainable development commission.
The independent watchdog group says it is increasingly concerned about government car use. The giant fleet emits 1.5% more than it did in 2005/6 and there is little likelihood that the self-imposed 15% reduction target will be met by 2010. Moreover, for all the rhetoric about energy saving the government's own energy efficiency levels have worsened by 3.3% since 1999 if the MoD figure is excluded, says the commission. "Unless government takes serious action to cut its own carbon dioxide emissions it will lack credibility in its challenge to society to do the same."
But in other areas the government is making progress. More than 23% of all government electricity comes from renewables and 35% of all its waste is recycled, a significant improvement on last year.
The commission, which describes itself as government's "critical friend", says the intention of making central government carbon neutral by 2012 is "extremely difficult to achieve" without major "offsetting" of emissions by purchasing credits, which "should only be implemented once all possible reductions have been achieved", says the report. It recommends that each department urgently reduces its annual energy budget and only uses air travel when there is no alternative.
All of this just serves to underline my belief that government target setting can often degenerate into displacement activity for actual action. The progress that has been made is welcome but one does not get the sense that Ministers have fully signed up to the sort of changes that will be necessary if they are to meet their aims.
The paper tells us that the government is in danger of losing credibility on climate change because more than half of all its departments are failing to reduce their carbon emissions enough to reach levels that the nation as a whole is expected to meet:
Apart from the Ministry of Defence, which significantly reduced its emissions in 2005/6 following a part privatisation, central government now emits 22% more than it did in 1999, according to the sustainable development commission.
The independent watchdog group says it is increasingly concerned about government car use. The giant fleet emits 1.5% more than it did in 2005/6 and there is little likelihood that the self-imposed 15% reduction target will be met by 2010. Moreover, for all the rhetoric about energy saving the government's own energy efficiency levels have worsened by 3.3% since 1999 if the MoD figure is excluded, says the commission. "Unless government takes serious action to cut its own carbon dioxide emissions it will lack credibility in its challenge to society to do the same."
But in other areas the government is making progress. More than 23% of all government electricity comes from renewables and 35% of all its waste is recycled, a significant improvement on last year.
The commission, which describes itself as government's "critical friend", says the intention of making central government carbon neutral by 2012 is "extremely difficult to achieve" without major "offsetting" of emissions by purchasing credits, which "should only be implemented once all possible reductions have been achieved", says the report. It recommends that each department urgently reduces its annual energy budget and only uses air travel when there is no alternative.
All of this just serves to underline my belief that government target setting can often degenerate into displacement activity for actual action. The progress that has been made is welcome but one does not get the sense that Ministers have fully signed up to the sort of changes that will be necessary if they are to meet their aims.
