Fife is on target to cut its carbon footprint by 75% by 2030

New figures have shown that the local authority’s carbon footprint has reduced year-on-year to a 67% reduction on 1990 levels - just 8% shy of the benchmark set by Holyrood ministers.

Much of that downward trajectory has been driven by emissions from the council’s consumption of electricity, which has fallen by 69% from 2014 to 2020, so more focus will be placed on the need to lower emissions from gas and diesel use over the coming years.

The statistics are contained in Fife Council’s Public Bodies Duties report, which is submitted to the Scottish Government on an annual basis and looks at progress made in terms of cutting emissions and adapting to climate change.

Ross Spalding, climate change and zero waste service manager, said he had been encouraged by what the local authority had achieved but sounded a note of caution.

“I think it’s a poignant time to bring this forward as we emerge from COP26 and all the decisions that were taken there, but we acknowledge there’s still a lot of work to do,” he said.

“The 67% reduction from baseline puts us in a good position, and the majority of that has come from electricity reduction.

“We’ve also benefited quite substantially from the decarbonisation of the National Grid.

“But there are other elements such as gas and diesel for our fleet that have been going down at a slower rate, and these are areas that we need to look at.”

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