What estimation has the Minister made of the Welsh Government's carbon footprint?
In October 2021 the Welsh Government published Net Zero Wales which describes how we will meet our second Carbon Budget and lay the foundations for future decarbonisation. Net Zero Wales repeated our previously declared ambition of achieving a collective carbon neutral public sector by 2030, in recognition of the size and reach of the public sector and the critical leadership role it has to embed decarbonisation in everything we do in Wales.
The reporting of emissions annually by public bodies in Wales is an important part of achieving that ambition, by helping to shape our actions and priorities. In May 2021 the Welsh Government published the Welsh Public Sector Net Zero Reporting Guide, a universal guide for use by Welsh public bodies to estimate baseline emissions. These emissions cover buildings, transport, waste, supply chain and land use.
We have now finished the first cycle of reporting for 2019-20 and 2020-21 for the public sector, which includes the Welsh Government. The current estimate for total Welsh public sector emissions is 3,353 kt CO2e in 2019-20 and 3,279 kt CO2e in 2020-21. For the Welsh Government, these figures are 156.6 kt CO2e in 2019-20 and 127.7 kt CO2e in 2020-21.
The full report on public sector net zero data and recommendations can be found here
https://gov.wales/public-sector-net-zero-data-and-recommendations