Public sector leads carbon reduction spending
Hospitals, schools and local authorities are more committed to investing in carbon cutting initiatives than private businesses, according to the Carbon Trust
Despite pressure to cuts costs, 58% of public sector workers responding to the online survey report that their organisation would be funding programmes to cut their carbon footprint in 2012, compared to just 46% of those employed in the private sector.
The poll of 1,200 UK workers also reveals that 78% are actually looking to the public sector to lead by example when it came to reducing emissions.
The survey also asked individuals how their organisation is approaching emissions reductions, revealing that, while 50% have changed procurement processes to consider carbon emissions, less than one-third say their employer has attempted to encourage staff to adopt more sustainable behaviours.
Richard Rugg, director of Carbon Trust programmes, praised the public sector for its commitment to cutting carbon emissions despite tough economic pressures, but warned that organisations are missing a key opportunity by failing to engage their staff with energy efficiency.
“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," he said.
“You don’t have to invest large sums upfront to see a return; the business case for carbon action stacks up. It’s an essential opportunity for cost saving not a costly nice-to-have.”
The poll's results follows research from analysts Verdantix that found that spending by large UK firms on energy, environment and sustainability initiatives will grow by 12% in 2012, 20 times faster than the forecast growth of the UK economy as a whole.