Council's pledge to be carbon neutral

There has been recent interest from local authorities in making pledges, setting targets and generally tying themselves down to a date to be carbon-neutral. The attention paid to this is welcome – it can help to re-invigorate a council’s climate change, sustainability, energy and related activities. In a perfect world, we would all be investing in this agenda, utilising the latest technology and working to get projects underway. However, we know there are limited resources (very limited some would say!) so prioritising what we intend to do is vital. The statement needs to be backed up by action and that means putting a programme in place that can take the local authority from point A to point B over a period of time, and there are many factors to influence such a programme. Is the statement made on behalf of the local authority or the whole council area? How well has the council performed historically? Are there arrangements in place to measure progress? What resources are available? Are plans in place already? A decision to be carbon-neutral reflects the ambition and ethos of the council but not meeting that target can say a lot about the council too.