Council 'broadly on track' for carbon neutral goal

Wiltshire Council has taken steps to reduce its emissions, such as using electric vehicles

Wiltshire Council is still on track be carbon neutral by 2030, according to its latest climate report.

The local authority has been described as “broadly on track” to deliver on the goal to be carbon neutral as an organisation by the end of the decade.

However, the rate at which countywide emissions are decreasing is currently not enough to deliver its more ambitious aspiration for Wiltshire as a whole to become carbon neutral by 2030, or even by 2050.

Councillor Dominic Muns, cabinet member for waste and environment, said the authority "only has direct control over 0.2% of the county's emissions".

The update was the ninth progress report since the council formally recognised a climate emergency in 2019.

Mr Muns said: “We continue to refine and increase our focus on activities that help support Wiltshire residents and businesses to reach net zero.

“We need to work methodically, we need to base our decisions on the data, and we must take our Wiltshire residents with us.”

Liberal Democrat councillor Richard Budden raised concerns over emissions arising from the quantity of waste sent to be incinerated, suggesting the total emissions amounted to “well over 100,000 tonnes”.

Mr Muns said this data would be revealed in a future report scheduled for the end of the year, as well as in the waste transformation project.

He said: “We are working with suppliers and third parties to assess what the impact is, and it is not an easy task.”