Council's Net Zero Claims Called Misleading

The Green leader of the opposition on Reading Borough Council has called one of its press releases "misleading" over the council's progress to become net zero by 2030 after it declared a climate emergency in 2019.

The council published the release ahead of a greenhouse gas report for a strategic environment, planning and transport committee meeting on November 12. It says emissions are down 76% since 2008/9 and that Reading is in the top 5% of local authorities for cuts.

But the council admits it missed its ambitious 85% reduction target for 2025/26. A graph in the report shows 2021/22 beat the target, 2022/23 narrowly missed it, and the council has failed to hit total tonnage benchmarks since. The report shows a 0.1% rise in borough emissions in 2024.

Rob White (Green, Park) said: "The Labour-run council has now missed its own carbon emissions reduction target four years in a row. In 2025/26, it fell short by nine percentage points. It also fell well short of its renewable energy target."

"Across Reading, emissions rose slightly in 2024, leaving the borough behind its original path to net zero by 2030."

"The council needs to say whether it still expects to reach net zero in its own operations by 2030 and publish a funded plan showing what it will do each year to get there."

John Ennis (Labour, Southcote), lead councillor for climate strategy, said: "There is still much work to be done to reach the council's and borough's ambitious carbon reduction targets, and we will continue to work with our partners and residents to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels, achieve net zero and improve the environment for everyone in Reading."

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter