Maude calls for 10% carbon cut pledge

At a meeting on 20 July 2010 Maude and energy and climate change minister Greg Barker urged government suppliers to meet the term of a new Energy Efficiency Code. The code sets out that all departments should work with facilities management contractors to prepare plans to cut carbon by 10% by May 2011; consider private sector ideas to cut carbon emissions; and explore agreements, possibly through changes to existing contracts, that help reduce carbon emissions. Maude said: "The public sector as a whole is responsible for 3% of UK carbon emissions and spends more than £2.5bn on energy every year, so there is a huge potential to make a real difference." Christopher Pennell, principal analyst at Kable, said: "Perhaps a more sustainable approach would be for Whitehall to look more closely at the way it structures IT and where there are opportunities to consolidate and move to a lighter infrastructure based around cloud services."