Increase in CO2 emissions in the Vale

CARBON dioxide emissions rose in the Vale of Glamorgan between 2017 and 2018, according to recently published government figures.

The latest available data shows carbon emissions fell during the same time period in Cardiff and across Wales, but rose by 0.3 per cent in the Vale.

Each year the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (DBEIS) measures how much carbon is emitted at a local level across the UK, to track progress in reducing emissions.

Cutting emissions is seen as crucial in preventing global temperatures rising to dangerous levels.

Between 2017 and 2018, carbon emissions fell in 84 per cent of council areas in the UK. They fell by 0.4 per cent in Cardiff and by 5 per cent across Wales. The average fall across the UK was two per cent.

Neath Port Talbot saw the largest drop of 14 per cent, ‘largely due to the steelworks’, according to DBEIS.

But emissions rose in the Vale, across every sector measured: industry, domestic and transport.

Industry is responsible for most of the emissions in the Vale, while road transport emits the most in Cardiff.

The Vale also emits more per person than in Cardiff and Wales.

For every person in the Vale, 8.5 tonnes of carbon are emitted each year. For every person in Wales, 8.2 tonnes are emitted each year, and just 4.5 tonnes in Cardiff.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported in 2018 that net emissions must be reduced to zero in order to limit increases in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees.

The Welsh Government, Cardiff council and the Vale of Glamorgan council all declared a climate emergency last year, committing to net zero emissions in the public sector by 2030.

Net zero means emissions are offset completely by what carbon is taken in, by trees and wetland for example.