26 Jan 2026
Greenhouse gas emissions in the St Albans district have increased by three per cent since SADC declared a climate emergency in 2019.
Despite pledging to reach net zero by 2030, the latest corporate emissions report shows the council produced 3,981 tonnes of CO2 in 2024/25 – up from 3,881 tonnes when the target was set.
Emissions rose by six per cent in the last year alone, driven by increases in gas consumption across council buildings and leisure centres.
Gas consumption is up eight per cent year-on-year across council buildings.
SADC set a target to reduce emissions by 70 per cent by 2025 but has only achieved a 46 per cent reduction from the 2008 baseline. To meet its net zero target by 2030, the council must now cut 2,146 tonnes – 54 per cent of current emissions – in just one year.
The failings were revealed in the Corporate Greenhouse Gas Emissions Analysis 2024/25 report presented to a recent meeting of SADC’s planning policy and climate committee.
The scale of the crisis has been highlighted by St Albans Green & Independent Group, and leader Cllr Simon Grover said: “Six years after declaring a climate emergency, emissions are going in the wrong direction. This is a complete failure of leadership.
“The Lib Dems said the climate emergency was their number one priority. On that measure, they have utterly failed.
“The council set ambitious targets in 2019 but has simply not delivered the action needed. We should be cutting emissions by over 50 per cent each year to get back on track. Instead, they’re rising. I have been saying for years that they do not have a plausible strategy. Instead they have trotted out a random sequence of small changes. The figures now show the stark truth: it’s not good enough.
“Leisure centres account for 45 per cent of total emissions but the council has not published any plan to decarbonise them.”
Green campaigner for St Peter’s ward, Sally Leonard, said, “It’s positive to see investment and rising participation in leisure services, but climate impact is missing from the picture.
“Energy efficiency and emissions need to be reported alongside performance if the council is to meet its own net zero commitments.”
Several years ago the Green group won a budget concession to invest in solar panels on Westminster Lodge. Greens have since suggested the council explore heat pump options for the leisure centre – extracting heat from the ground, air or water. A council-run leisure centre in Argyll even uses heat from the nearby sewer, meeting 95 per cent of the facility’s heating needs in this way.
Greens are also calling for:
- Emergency investment in building decarbonisation;
- Mandatory emission reduction clauses in all contractor agreements;
- A dedicated climate officer;
- Monthly progress reports to committee;
- Immediate return to renewable energy tariffs.
Clarence ward Green campaigner Livvy Gibbs said: “Declaring a climate emergency is purely symbolic if it does not translate into action. SADC is missing its own targets and emissions are rising. The cost of inaction will always be higher than acting early and decisively. Residents want clear leadership and practical solutions on transport, energy and insulation – other councils are delivering this, and we must too.”
Cllr Grover added: “This council report is full of excuses – billing errors, increased building use, temporary measures.
“But the facts are clear: this administration is failing on climate. Declaring a climate emergency should mean treating it like an emergency. Instead, we’ve had years of warm words and slow progress. Residents deserve better. The climate crisis won’t wait for this council to get its act together.”
The chair and vice chair of planning policy and climate committee, Cllrs Paul de Kort and Jacqui Taylor, have both been contacted for comment.
Conservative group leader Cllr Matt Cowley said in response to the report: “The Lib Dems declared a climate emergency in 2019/20 and since then the council’s net emissions have increased by more than 13 per cent. When I highlighted this at planning policy and climate committee and suggested things weren’t going as planned, one Lib Dem councillor suggested I was a climate change denier.
“The only ones in denial are the Lib Dems – clapping themselves on the back for good intentions whilst the council’s emissions rise under them like so much hot air. The Conservatives at St Albans district council will continue to demand value for money – and hold the Lib Dems to account on their broken promises.”
Photos by Matt Fisher.
