THE Government has announced a range of new policies as part of its aim to significantly cut carbon emissions and tackle climate change.

Its long-awaited net zero strategy, outlining plans to meet legal targets to end its contribution to climate change by 2050, has been published ahead of crucial UN COP26 climate talks in Glasgow.

We have taken a look at progress made on green initiatives in Worcester so far, to find out exactly how green Worcestershire is.

Figures show Worcestershire is behind many other parts of Great Britain with the pace of its EV charging point rollout.

Statistics from the Department for Transport show there were 151 public charging points in the area at the start of October – up from 122 a year before.

But at a rate of 25 per 100,000 people, this is well below the UK average, of 39.

Despite this, Malvern Hills District Council announced plans for 20 more EV charging points across the district earlier this month.

Data from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy shows 94,000 renewable heating systems had been installed across Great Britain through RHI by the end of September – 15 per cent more than September 2020.

Of these, 857 have been installed in Worcestershire, helping to pay for 74,155 megawatts per hour of energy.

That is an increase of 13 per cent on the 756 systems installed by September last year, meaning Worcestershire is moving at a slower pace than the national average.

An extension to the Energy Company Obligation scheme, which aims to reduce carbon emissions and help people at risk of fuel poverty by making energy firms install heat-saving measures, has also been announced.

BEIS data shows 2.3 million homes across Great Britain had been fitted with ECO measures by the end of June – with 20,195 of these in Worcestershire.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “The UK’s path to ending our contribution to climate change will be paved with well-paid jobs, billions in investment and thriving green industries, powering our green industrial revolution across the country."

But Rebecca Newsom, Greenpeace UK's head of politics, said the plans are "more like a pick and mix than the substantial meal that we need to reach net zero", and ignore the need to reduce meat and dairy consumption.