News
SDC report links £70M of Government savings to sustainability measures
Published 27 July 2010 in Sustainable Development
On 22 July the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) released its fifth annual watchdog report, finding that sustainability measures are saving the UK Government £60-70 million every year. The report, entitled 'Becoming the “Greenest Government Ever,”' measures progress against the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate Targets from 2006 through 2009.
The report sites the following actions to demonstrate the savings made from more sustainable practices:
- Between 2008 and 2009, the savings from reduced road travel led to avoided fuel costs totalling £13.7M and the equivalent of 1.7 million hours of staff time. This equates to over 1,000 full time staff working 220 days of the year, and does not count the savings from reduced car purchases, repairs and administration.
- Between 2006 and 2009, carbon emissions reductions from office’s and administrative road travel totalled over 600,000 tonnes – the equivalent of over 22,000 average UK households over the same period.
- Between 2006 and 2009, 18 million cubic metres of water – the equivalent of 7,200 Olympic swimming pools and £25.5M worth of water bills were saved.
- Between 2006 and 2009, the Government reduced its waste by 126,000 tonnes – equivalent to the total waste produced in a year by over 250,000 UK individuals.
But the SDC report says these savings are "only the tip of the iceberg" and the coalition Government could save hundreds of millions of pounds from stepping up its green ambitions over the course of this Parliament. Even without further progress, improvements in water and energy use, waste, recycling and road transport are likely to add up to £300 million-£350 million worth of savings over the next five years. The estimated savings identified in the report reflect a combination of annual cost savings and equivalent benefit to society.
SDC Chairman Will Day emphasizes the critical relationship between the wider social, environmental and economic benefits of greening government and the financial imperative to do so. “Sustainable development is no peripheral, nice-to-have concept for times when it can be afforded,” states Day. “It is the best way of delivering more for less, while ensuring that the drive for efficiencies doesn’t cost more in the long run. Because only a government which takes into account the full range of its impacts, now and in the future, can claim to be the greenest government ever.”
The report was released amidst news that the Government will cease funding to the SDC. On 22 July, Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman announced reforms to more than 30 of Defra’s arm’s length bodies, including withdraw of DEFRA funding from the SDC.
To download the full SDC Report, visit the Sustainable Development Commission website: http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications.php?id=1097
To view the DEFRA press release on withdrawal of funding from the SDC, visit their website: http://ww2.defra.gov.uk/2010/07/22/arms-length-bodies
To view response from Jonathon Porrit, Chair of SDC from 2000-09, visit the Forum for the Future website: http://www.forumforthefuture.org/blog/Porritt-condemns-dogmatic-decision-to-axe-money-saving-SDC