Government 'to miss green targets'

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The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) said despite leading the way on climate change on the global stage, the Government needed to take "radical action to put its own house in order" in a number of areas.

The sixth annual assessment of Government performance against a series of sustainability targets showed two thirds of departments were not on track to meet the goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 12.5% by 2010.

And emissions from departmental road travel increased last year by 1.5%, showing "no progress" towards the 15% reduction by 2010/2011 set by the Government.

Water consumption was another area of concern, with just a 0.1% reduction in use, not enough to meet the 25% target by 2020, the SDC said.

But recycling targets look set to be met and 28.3% of electricity was from renewables, well above the 10% target set for 2010, the report showed.

More than four-fifths of Sites of Special Scientific Interest were in target condition, on track to meet the 95% goal by 2010.

But only 46 out of 351 new or refurbished buildings belonging to the estate were assessed on environmental standards and just 28 met them.

The Government's huge purchasing potential was being put to good use in some areas, with the majority of departments sourcing all or most of their timber from sustainable sources.

But just 3.1% of catering contracts are covered by a sustainability clause, the report into the Sustainable Operations of the Government targets said.