Councils set to miss climate emergency targets

The Met Office said it expects the UK to experience drier summers on average due to climate change

Councils in the West are not on track to meet their net zero targets, seven years after Bristol City Council became the first local authority in the country to declare a climate emergency.

A report to North Somerset Council says it is "not currently meeting the trajectory for reaching net zero by 2030".

While total emissions have fallen in North Somerset since the goal was set in 2019, last year they increased.

This was primarily because of "a significant increase in fuel use" by recycling vehicles, along with higher emissions from home to school transport.

The council says that new recycling lorries, along with a reduction in collections to every three weeks, should bring emissions down.

Lower emissions from street lighting and council-owned buildings are reported to have contributed towards "significant progress" but Cllr Annemieke Waite, cabinet member for planning and environment, said there remains "much more to do".

There are also plans to decarbonise Hutton Moor Leisure Centre and introduce more electric buses.

Ms Waite said she is writing to the government asking for more support in delivering climate objectives, with a North Somerset Council report saying there are "limited resources and funding available" to tackle the issue.

Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg joined protestors in Bristol in February 2020, around the time councils across the country were declaring a climate emergency

The UK government has a target of reaching net zero by 2050, and has said it wants the country to be use only green electricity by 2030. It recently published a report in which Energy Secretary Ed Miliband wrote clean energy and climate action are "at the heart of our government's agenda."

In Bristol, emissions have reduced faster than average since the climate emergency was declared, but the council is not expected to meet its net zero target.

Bristol City Council environment and sustainability committee chair Martin Fodor said in July the city's efforts were "bearing fruit" towards carbon neutrality, which he described as "one of the most ambitious and important endeavours we've ever set out to achieve".

Meanwhile in Bath and North East Somerset, the council almost halved its emissions since 2016-17, but achieving net zero quickly is "challenging", according to a council report.

The authority says it has set aside money to introduce electric bin lorries once the existing vehicles are ready for replacement, and put solar panels onto Bath Sports and Leisure Centre.