4 Reviewing the targets
31. The Government is conducting a review of
the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate (SOGE) Framework.
The Delivery Plan Update published by the Office of Government
Commerce (OGC) in December 2008 states that this review "will
strategically assess the overall sustainable procurement and operations
framework."[31]
The review is an ongoing project that will not reach its conclusion
until the autumn. In this section of our report, we set out the
issues that must be addressed in any revised SOGE Framework.
Targets
32. The SDC's 2007-08 report identifies a number
of targets that "are no longer challenging enough".[32]
These areas include waste
and recycling, water consumption and biodiversity. The SDC also
drew attention to the unhelpful interaction between the targets
for energy efficiency and for carbon emissions. Energy efficiency
is measured in energy use per m2; as the SDC explains,
this means that "it is possible to increase energy consumption
and still show a positive performance against the energy efficiency
target".[33] This
could happen if the total floor area occupied by a department
increased by a greater proportion in ratio to its energy consumption.
We drew attention to this problem last year, and recommended that
the Government should replace its energy efficiency targets with
targets for reducing absolute levels of energy use.[34]
While improvements in energy efficiency are welcome, this target
does not reflect the urgency of the need to reduce energy use
and carbon emissions. Such inconsistencies within the SOGE Framework
must be addressed as a matter of urgency.
33. The Environment Agency has identified several
SOGE targets whose stringency could be increased. In written
evidence, it asserted that:
The Environment Agency's aim is to reduce emissions
by 30% by 2012. We believe that all Departments and Agencies should
be able to achieve a similar target.[35]
It also identified targets that all departments and
agencies could achieve much sooner than is currently anticipated,
including:
The target to reduce CO2 emissions by
30% should be achieved by March 2015. The Environment Agency has
set itself a 30% reduction target in CO2 emissions
by March 2012.
The target to reduce water use by 25% by 2020 should
be achieved by March 2015. Our target is to reduce water use by
this amount by March 2012.[36]
This ambitious approach to sustainable operations
is commendable. We are convinced that all government departments
and agencies could equal this ambition.
34. A revised SOGE Framework
must provide targets that are challenging enough to achieve the
scale of change required to deliver sustainable operations. They
should reflect the level of the Government's own ambition on sustainable
development and climate change. The revision of the framework
must also address incoherencies in the current system, and must
produce targets that work together to drive progress towards sustainable
operations.
Coverage
The current SOGE Framework applies to the UK-based
operations of all central government departments and their Executive
Agencies (EAs). The targets largely exclude the overseas estate,
the devolved administrations and the wider public sector (local
government, NHS trusts, police forces and constabularies, and
educational establishments).[37]
In our last report on this issue, we recommended that "OGC,
relevant departments, and the SDC develop comprehensive annual
assessments of progress in important sectors such as NHS bodies
and schools".[38]
We were pleased to note, in the Government's response to our last
report on this subject, that the scope of the SOGE Framework will
be considered during the course of the ongoing review, including
the inclusion of outsourced services and suppliers.[39]
35. The SDC believed that it was urgently necessary
for the SOGE Framework to be extended to non-departmental public
bodies (NDPBs), outsourced operations and suppliers. They argued
that if the Government were serious about sustainable development
it would immediately extend the SOGE Framework to its suppliers.
Minas Jacob drew attention to the implications of the relatively
narrow scope of the Framework:
All you need to do is outsource something or to create
an NDPB that does not report and then it is not covered. What
we are asking for is for government to actually understand, report
on and improve on its own business.[40]
36. The Government's review of the SOGE Framework
will address the question of the scope of its coverage.
The SOGE Framework must aim to cover the environmental impacts
of all government business. Targets for sustainable operations
must be applied as widely as possible, and the reporting of performance
against them must be made mandatory. It is not necessary for uniform
targets to be applied across the board; they may be tailored where
appropriate. We urge the Government to set out a detailed timetable
for the extension of the scope of the SOGE Framework and to develop
suitable mechanisms for the monitoring of performance against
the targets. We also recommend that the Government assess the
costs and benefits of extending the Framework.
Credits and offsetting
37. The contract for the Government Carbon Offsetting
Fund (GCOF) has been renewed. The previous incarnation of GCOF
covered only ministerial and official air travel (and some minor
rail and car travel). The new contract will play a part in delivering
the SOGE target to achieve carbon neutrality on the government
office estate by 2012. The Government said that:
DECC is currently undertaking a consultation on a
draft definition of carbon neutrality and good practice recommendations
for users of the term. The consultation closes on 21 May 2009.
The consultation will allow Government to conclude whether the
target is an effective way of demonstrating climate change leadership.
The outcome of the exercise will feed into the review of the SOGE
targets.[41]
38. The SDC has expressed concern about the Government's
approach to offsetting. In its report, it warns that "a clear
stance on carbon neutrality and carbon offsetting is still lacking".[42]
Farooq Ullah told us that "The issue is to not see offsetting
as the end but as an interim part of the solution while further
reductions are continuously sought".[43]
39. The Government said that offsetting has a
legitimate place in the hierarchy of actions to tackle climate
change, but it agreed that emissions should be measured, avoided
and reduced before offsetting could be considered.[44]
The Environment Agency described how it had used expenditure that
could have been spent offsetting emissions to reduce its own emissions
instead. It had established a Carbon Reduction Fund whose budget
was based on the cost of offsetting the agency's emissions. The
fund was used to invest in carbon reduction projects and to stimulate
the development of new technologies.
40. Offsetting is not a substitute
for action to reduce emissions; all other options must be exhausted
before offsetting is considered. The Government must show clearly
how the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund (GCOF) is being used
and must provide assurance that options for reducing emissions
have priority. The use of GCOF must be transitional and departmental
delivery plans should show how emissions that are currently offset
will be reduced in future. The Government should publish its estimates
of the amount to be spent on offsetting each year and the Chief
Sustainability Officer should assess whether this spending constitutes
value for money.
31 Office of Government Commerce, Sustainable Procurement
and Operations on the Government Estate: Delivery Plan Update,
December 2008, p. 13 Back
32
Sustainable Development Commission, Sustainable Development
in Government 2008: Challenges for Government, pp 42-43 Back
33
Sustainable Development Commission, Sustainable Development
in Government 2008: Challenges for, p. 50 Back
34
Environmental Audit Committee, Seventh Report of Session 2007-08,
Making Government operations more sustainable: A progress check,
HC 529, para 44 Back
35
Ev 36 Back
36
Ev 36 Back
37
Sustainable Development Commission, Sustainable Development
in Government 2008: Challenges for Government, pp 48-49 Back
38
Environmental Audit Committee, Seventh Report of Session 2007-08,
Making Government operations more sustainable: A progress check,
HC 529, para 53 Back
39
Environmental Audit Committee, Eighth Special Report of Session
2007-08, Making Government Operations More Sustainable: Government
Response to the Committee's Seventh Report of Session 2007-08,
HC 1126, para 16 Back
40
Q 41 Back
41
Ev 14 Back
42
Sustainable Development Commission, Sustainable Development
in Government 2008: Challenges for Government, p. 16 Back
43
Q 46 Back
44
Ev 14 Back
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