Eco-schools plan to help cut CO2

Up to 200 environmentally friendly schools are to be built as part of the drive to reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change, the government has announced.

Education secretary Alan Johnson claimed the eco-schools would help save five million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

The scheme, which comes as part of a £110m investment package to be delivered over three years, will also see all secondary schools given a copy of Al Gore's film 'An inconvenient truth'.

"As people and businesses try to reduce their carbon emissions, it is only right that the government plays its part," Johnson said.

Noting that schools account for 15 per cent of the public sector's carbon footprint, he claimed the plan would make "a substantial difference in the fight against climate change".

"We're already rebuilding and refurbishing every secondary school in the country, the extra £110m over the next three years will ensure even higher standards for new and refurbished schools to reduce their carbon emissions, in some cases up to carbon neutrality," he added.

If successful, this could result in 2,000 carbon-neutral schools, saving eight million tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next decade, Johnson said.

"Our new schools must be built to last into the next century, but they should be constructed to enable the planet to survive for the centuries beyond," he stressed.

"Ten years ago our young people were being taught in crumbling schools with leaking roofs and broken windows, thanks to the Tory years of underinvestment."

The "warm words" of Conservative leader David Cameron on schools would do little to boost investment because the party's pledge to share the proceeds of growth would mean cuts of £21bn this year, he argued.