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A large proportion of public sector bodies may claim that reducing carbon emissions is a priority, but a very few have processes in place to enable them to achieve that goal, according to delegates at an international public finance conference.

A poll at the Leadership in Public Finance Conference run by ACCA in partnership with the Office for Public Management and Transparency International UK, first asked delegates whether reduction of carbon emissions was a priority for their organisations.  Forty per cent agreed or agreed strongly that it was a priority, while just over 40% disagreed with nearly 20% unsure.

But when asked if their organisation had ‘a clear process in place for recording, measuring and reporting the reduction of carbon emissions’, more than 90% disagreed or did not know.

The conference looked at a world view of the economic situation and its impact on the public sector, the future of public sector audit, carbon and green collar issues and unlocking innovation to increase capacity in public services attracted delegates from the UK, mainland Europe, China and Africa.

Speakers included Nenad Pacek, President, Global Success Advisors Ltd; Martin Evans, Managing Director of Audit at the Audit Commission, England and Ian Trumper, Treasurer of Transparency International UK and Catherine Staite of the UK’s Office for Public Management.

Gillian Fawcett, head of public sector at ACCA, said: 'There may be a commitment by the public sector to reduce carbon emissions, but organisations clearly have a long way to go if they are going to measure and report those reductions. Since it is not possible to manage outputs which are not measured, the public sector is going to need resources made available to enable it to demonstrate how successful it is in meeting government targets on carbon emission reduction.'

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For further information please contact:

Colin Davis, ACCA Newsroom +44 (0)20 7059 5738 +44 (0)7720 347 713 colin.davis@accaglobal.com