Local authority falls behind on net-zero targets

Douglas Council has fallen behind in meeting its emissions reductions targets to achieve net-zero by 2050, a new report has revealed.

The document on the council's Carbon Footprint 2023-24 noted that while it had achieved a 14% over five years, the authority needed to be at 29.5% to meet that.

However, Council leader Clare Wells said the authority was "making progress", and the percentage reduction was a "pretty good" in a short period of time.

The report by the council's director of environment and regeneration noted that due to the nature of the services provided by the authority, achieving the target "may be impossible" for it.

It comes amid a pledge from the Isle of Man government to reduce its emissions to net-zero by 2050.

Wells said the council had to be "realistic" and, while it was moving "in the right direction", services like dealing with waste that could not be "neutralised" could mean that at some point the authority "may hit a ceiling".

The authority ran a "wide range of initiatives", such as the way it managed housing stock, recycling and kerbside collections, she said.

In the past year, the council made a 3% reduction in its emissions.

The report suggested that initial costs of meeting future climate change legislation requirements by local authorities should be met by central government.

It noted that in the UK, financial assistance was provided to local authorities for carbon reduction schemes, and while the Manx government had established the Environmental Protection Fund, local authorities did not have access to that.

Wells said that as the council's main income stream was from residents, the authority would need to increase rates to meet targets, and that meant achieving net-zero would "take longer" as initiatives needed to be spread out over the years.

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