47% of local council executives confident in meeting net zero targets, finds survey
May 2022 - Local Government
47% of local council executives confident in meeting net zero targets: A survey of councils around the UK has found that just 47% have confidence that they will meet their self-imposed net zero targets. This is despite 87% of those polled saying they are working to a deadline to bring their operations in line with net zero.
When asked about the targets for their own operations to become net zero, 64% said they were aiming for 2030, while 12% had set a target for 2050. Just 7% had set a target for before 2030.
When looking at the wider geographical area, 47% of respondents said their council was aiming for 2030, with almost a quarter (24%) setting their sights on 2050 - in line with the government’s target.
The research on behalf of energy company, E.ON and the Local Government Chronicle, polled 127 respondents who work in the sector including seven chief executives of councils around the UK and 46 respondents who were either directors of environmental services or had specific responsibilities for climate change.
Michael Lewis, chief executive of E.ON UK said: "It's great to see an ambition to create a greener future but there will be concern confidence is fairly low in whether our local authorities can achieve these ambitions."
So far, there have been net zero pledges made by more than 300 district, county, unitary, metropolitan, combined, and city councils across the UK, which is almost 80% of local authorities in the UK, according to Climate Emergency UK.
The survey also revealed that 92% of respondents to the survey believe that when it comes to new build housing, all buildings constructed should be built to a 'net zero standard'. In addition, the survey found that of all the solutoins offered up as ways to help move closer to net zero targets, 'better energy efficiency' came top. Other technologies selected by executives were EV infrastructure, solar panels, heat pumps and district heating.
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