Concerns raised over Wiltshire's carbon neutral progress
Wiltshire Council remains on target for its own emissions targets
Last updated 20th Sep 2024
Wiltshire Council is still on track be carbon neutral by 2030, according to its latest climate report.
The local authority has been described as “broadly on track” to deliver on its goal to be carbon neutral as an organisation in scope one and two emissions by 2030.
Measures taken by the Council include completing its rooftop solar programme on Council premises, allowing it to generate its own electricity, and beginning its Home Upgrade Grant Scheme, which will see retrofitting in 86 low-income households.
Wiltshire Council has also switched its fleet of small vehicles to fully electric, and secured investment for 23 new electric buses in Salisbury.
However, the rate at which countywide emissions are decreasing is currently not enough to deliver its more ambitious aspiration for Wiltshire to become carbon neutral by 2030, or even by 2050.
An update was presented to cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday, September 18.
Cllr Dominic Muns, cabinet member for waste and environment, said: “We continue to refine and increase our focus on activities that help support Wiltshire residents and businesses to reach net zero.
“It’s really important to recognise that as an authority, considering the large number of buildings, homes, fleet that we operate, we only have direct control over 0.2 per cent of Wiltshire’s emissions.”
He added: “We need to work methodically, we need to base our decisions on the data, and we must take our Wiltshire residents with us.”
Liberal Democrat councillor Richard Budden raised concerns over the indirect scope three emissions arising from the quantity of waste sent to be incinerated, suggesting that the total emissions amounted to “well over 100,000 tonnes”.
Cllr Muns told him that this data would be revealed in a future report scheduled for the end of the year, as well as in the waste transformation project.
He said: “We are working with suppliers and third parties to assess what the impact is, and it is not an easy task.”
Cllr Budden argued: “The issue here is that we know that incinerating waste is producing a very high level of carbon emissions, and it seems to me that the strategy and direction of your policy is to push more material into incineration rather than less.”
Cllr Muns refuted this claim and stated that the council is encouraging additional recycling among its residents.
Since 2019, scope one and two emissions, direct emissions from the council’s own operations, have been reduced by 9,554 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e).
The council’s emissions are now down to 2,767 tCO2e, surpassing the target for 2023/24, which was 3,000 tCO2e.