Fewer greenhouse gas emissions were released into the atmosphere in Cumbria during 2022, according to new figures.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero shows 375,929 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (kt CO2e) were emitted across the UK in 2022, 2,282.9 kt CO2e of which was emitted in the Cumberland Council area.

The latter figure is equivalent to 8.3 tonnes per person, down from 8.7 in 2021.

Nationally, transport was the biggest cause of emissions at 30 per cent.

That was followed by domestic use at 22 per cent and industry at 17 per cent.

In the Cumberland Council area, the agriculture sector accounted for the biggest source of emissions, with 42 per cent of all greenhouse gases.

It comes as Andrew Pendleton, deputy CEO of the environmental charity Global Action Plan, said that while this is encouraging, incremental change ‘is not enough to protect people and (the) planet for generations to come’.

He called on the new Labour government to take ‘ambitious action’ to fight climate change and achieve net zero via investing in clean energy and increasing local government funding to decarbonise towns and cities.

On Monday, July 8, energy secretary Ed Miliband ditched a ban on new onshore wind farms introduced by the Conservatives in 2015, which the Government hopes will boost economic growth and help to transform the grid to clean energy by 2030.