Zero targets not on track

More cash needed to cut emissions

- DREW SANDELANDS, LOCAL DEMOCRACY REPORTER

East Renfrewshire Council is not on track to meet its net-zero targets – with “significant” further investment needed.

‘The local authority, which is aiming to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2045, set out its Get to Zero action plan in February last year.

Of the 86 actions proposed in year one, 70 per cent are “being delivered in line with expectations’, a council report shows.

Most of the remaining 30 per cent have been “unable to progress due to changing priorities, national policy not progressing, or lack of access to sufficient funds”.

When the initial plan was approved, it was reported that “as much as £370 million capital investment” could be needed up to 2045.

A second year plan has now been developed to “continue to reduce emissions”.

But the council is “not forecasting to achieve its 2045 net zero carbon emissions target” without “more significant actions relating to how property is managed’.