The Carbon Trust claims to have identified immediate opportunities for the public sector to achieve net savings of £1 billion through energy efficiency projects.
The projects proposed could reduce carbon emissions from public organisations by some 46 million tonnes over their lifetime: roughly equivalent to the carbon footprint of London in one year, the organisation has claimed.
Energy efficiency projects already implemented by the public sector with the help of the Carbon Trust are on track to deliver net cost savings of over £400 million along with a reduction in CO2 emissions of 10 million tonnes over the lifetime of projects.
Richard Rugg, head of public sector at the Carbon Trust, called on more hospitals, universities, local authorities and central government organisations to cut their costs by joining its carbon management programmes.
He said: 'In 2011, actively managing energy and carbon must form an essential part of any efficiency strategy for every single public sector organisation - from the smallest local councils to the biggest NHS Trusts. We want to see more organisations stepping forward to take up the challenge.'
More than 2,500 NHS trusts, higher education institutions, schools, local authorities, central government organisations, police and fire services have worked with the Carbon Trust over the last eight years to cut their spending and carbon emissions.
The Carbon Trust is now taking applications for its 2011 carbon management programmes, and the deadline is December 31, 2010. Full information can be found at www.carbontrust.co.uk/publicsector