Island can hit emissions target early – E&I head

‘The more we can do, and the sooner we can do it, the better the outcomes will be. The future is very much in our hands today,’ she said.

Earlier this week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published the world’s largest-ever report into climate change. The report contained a dire message for governments and individuals – change is needed now.

‘Guernsey’s climate change policy has an emissions hierarchy,’ said Deputy de Sausmarez.

‘We want to avoid emissions where we can. Where we can’t avoid emissions, we want to reduce them. Where we can’t reduce emissions we want to replace emission sources. Lastly, we can offset emissions – really a last resort – by taking out as much carbon as we put into the environment through things like trees and sea-grass beds that store carbon and remove it from the environment.’

Strictly speaking, the goal of the States climate change policy is to reach net-zero carbon emissions on-island by or before 2050. However, Deputy de Sausmarez said the policy was far more ambitious.

In terms of environmental impact, she believes Guernsey is capable of punching above its own weight. Not only does the island have a direct impact on the environment through emissions, but it also has an offshores impact as a financial hub.

‘We want to have a positive impact to the greatest degree possible,’ she said.

‘Green finance is essentially the money needed to transition from a brown economy based on non-sustainable fossil fuels to a green economy based on clean and sustainable energy. Guernsey Green Finance helps mobilise the capital government’s and businesses need to make that transition.’

The goal is to position Guernsey as a hub of expertise in the field of green finance.

‘We want to be the one-stop shop for all green finance needs. It’s a fantastic way to broaden our positive environmental impact and it’s a big economic opportunity as well. It’s a big part of Guernsey’s economic plan.’

Deputy de Sausmarez emphasised that it was not just governments and businesses that have a responsibility to impact climate change, but individuals too.

‘We are all both local and global citizens, and our actions today define both the island and the world that our children and grandchildren will inherit. It doesn’t matter which group of 60,000 people it is or where they are in the world – all of us have an environmental impact and all of us can chose to make a more positive difference.’

She highlighted certain local strengths – some 90% of the energy used in Guernsey is renewable energy imported through cables from France.

And although the States are still dealing with legacy emissions from old waste policies, the 2030 target of 70% household recycling was met in the first full year of implementation alongside an 11% reduction of waste overall.

However, Deputy de Sausmarez said the transportation sector still has a lot of room for improvement.

‘The biggest contributor to our transport emissions is road transport. We have one of the highest vehicle per capita ratios anywhere in the world, and a high level of car dependency as well, which contributes in a number of different ways to the high cost of living in the island. This is a really important focus of our climate change policy.’