Property professionals urged to help councils cut global warming

A report by GVA Grimley – Emission Impossible – Can cities deliver on their carbon reduction targets? – analyses the steps being taken by property professionals in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield to reduce global warming.

London is the highest carbon producer, with 45.5m tonnes per annum.

Newcastle is the lowest, with less than 1.9m tonnes a year.

Sheffield produced 3.5m tones and Leeds produced 4.8m tonnes.

However, Sheffield has the highest level of business CO2 emissions per employee at more than six tonnes. The Leeds figure stands at more than four tonnes per employee.

Between 2005 and 2008, Sheffield reduced its CO2 emissions by 1.7 per cent and Leeds cut its emissions by 4.7 per cent, which is the fourth highest reduction rate.

Leeds has set reduction targets of 40 per cent by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050.

Leeds City Council committed to reduce emissions by 3.4 per cent during 2010 and 2011.

To support this, Leeds has produced a Climate Change Action Plan that contains strategic commitments and a number of initiatives for aimed at reducing CO2 emissions.

The council is also working with Leeds Chamber of Commerce, Business Link and other business support organisations to promote a Leeds Climate Charter.

Sheffield aims to reduce its per capita emissions by 30 per cent by 2020 and 60 per cent by 2050.

Sheffield has been working with the Stockholm Environment Institute and participated in the Carbon Trust Local Authority Carbon Management Programme to set about reducing emissions across buildings, transport, schools and housing.

Jon Anderson, director of GVA’s Building Consultancy team, said: “We are starting to see meaningful progress and there will increasingly be implications for property owners, occupiers and developers to help the councils achieve the ambitious targets.

“Both Leeds and Sheffield fare reasonably well in comparison to some of the other major cities in the UK, but there are areas that need improvement.

“The challenge is that we have seen a significant decline in the number of new developments over the past few years in both Leeds and Sheffield. We have to concentrate our energies into improving the carbon performance of the stock of existing buildings if we are going to meet the 2020 target.”