Government departments to cut emissions by 10% in 12 months

Speaking to staff at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) this morning, with prime minister David Cameron, he announced plans for department headquarters to publish online in real time their energy use.

A government steering group chaired by Mr Huhne will also be set up, with representatives from key departments and the private sector.

Mr Cameron said: “I don’t want to hear warm words about the environment, I want to see real action.

“I want this to be the greenest government ever, taking our lead from 10:10, I commit us to a 10% reduction in carbon emissions across central Government in the next twelve months.

“But I have also made sure all Cabinet ministers are involved, developing plans to show how they will meet their share.

“And the public will be involved too – because we’re going to publish the energy use of government headquarters in real-time, so people can hold us to account for our performance. If we do this, we’ll cut the Government’s energy bills by hundreds of millions of pounds.”

Mr Huhne added: “A lot of progress has been made, but we must now go further, faster and turn targets into real change.

“This is a coalition to provide strong and stable government for this country, the benefits of the low carbon economy are agreed between both parties, this is a priority agenda common to both manifestos.”

Luke Walsh