A news survey of the public, private and third sectors, conducted on the Guardian Sustainable Business website between November and December 2011, has revealed that the public sector is the most committed to reducing carbon emissions.
More than half of the public sector respondents (58%) said, their organisation planned to make ‘tangible investments’ in carbon reduction in 2012. 77.9% of the organisations agreed that it had remained a vital part of the organisation’s objectives despite the difficult economic climate.
In contrast 46%, less than half, of private sector workers confirmed their company will be making such investments in the coming year. Interestingly, the vast majority (78%) of respondents are looking to the public sector to lead the way on carbon reduction by cutting their own emissions.
Carbon Trust Programmes Director, Richard Rugg, said:
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“We’ve worked with some truly pioneering public sector organisations to slash their costs and carbon. Even in the face of an economic downturn, the public sector clearly still recognises the benefit of managing down its carbon and sees the short-term as well as long-term benefits of doing so. You don’t have to invest large sums upfront to see a return. An open goal for the public sector is engaging their staff in energy efficiency programmes.”
He went onto say:
“The business case for carbon action stacks up. It’s an essential opportunity for cost saving not a costly nice-to-have.”
The Carbon Trust has opened registration for its 2012-2013 public sector management programmes, inviting all types of public sector organisations to participate. If you would like more information on carbon reduction in the public sector, see: www.carbontrust.com/publicsector.
Registration closes at the end of February. The survey also covered further areas, including procurement, where an encouraging 50% of respondents from all sectors stated that carbon is a consideration in their organisation’s decisions- making process. Neither public nor private sector have yet capitalised on the savings that can be achieved by engaging their employees.