The government will miss a target to cut 12.5% of carbon emissions by 2010/11 and needs to set more ambitious targets for its estate, according to its own sustainability watchdog

In its seventh annual report, the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) said the government reported a reduction of 6.3% in carbon emissions from offices in 2007/08 over the baseline year 1999/2000.

The SDC said the figures were “not sufficient to be on track to meet the [2010/2011] target and far from enough to contribute to the [80% emissions reduction] national target by 2050”.

The government set up a Centre of Expertise in Sustainable Procurement (CESP) in response to last year’s indictment of the its record, which concluded: “The whole area is littered with missed opportunities.”

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