Public bodies need to do more in their drive to decarbonise, according to a report published today by the Auditor General for Wales.

Our report shows the public sector’s commitment to carbon reduction and the considerable activity that is taking place to reduce carbon emissions. However, public bodies need to increase their pace of activity amid clear uncertainty about whether they will achieve the collective ambition to have net zero carbon emissions by 2030. There are real barriers that public bodies need to address, and decarbonisation needs to be put at the heart of their day-to-day activities.

The Auditor General has committed to an ongoing programme of work on climate change. The report ‘Public Sector Readiness for Net Zero Carbon by 2030’ is our first piece of work looking at decarbonisation in 48 larger public sector bodies.

In the report, the Auditor General makes the following five calls for action from public bodies:

• Strengthen your leadership and demonstrate your collective responsibility through effective collaboration;
• Clarify your strategic direction and increase your pace of implementation;
• Get to grips with the finances you need;
• Know your skills gaps and increase your capacity; and
• Improve data quality and monitoring to support your decision making.

Our review found that public bodies are at very different stages in developing their decarbonisation action plans. Over a third of organisations were still in the initial stages of developing a decarbonisation plan at the time of our call for evidence.

Our review found that only two of the bodies that responded to our call for evidence felt that they had fully assessed the financial implications of meeting the 2030 ambition. Public bodies were very clear that significant investment is going to be needed. While the Welsh Government has provided some additional financial support, public bodies will have to think about how they can use existing funds in different ways and share costs with others.

Our review also found widespread capacity issues and skills gaps. Public bodies told us their resources are stretched in delivering core services and they do not necessarily have the specialist skills to address the complex nature of decarbonisation. Public bodies need to take opportunities to share the knowledge, expertise and capacity that exists within the public sector as well as the private and third sectors. Collaboration is needed now more than ever.

Data is power when it comes to decarbonisation. The Auditor General calls on public bodies to rapidly improve their understanding of their carbon emissions as our review found that data issues are a major barrier to having a shared understanding of the problem.