Carbon emissions from central government will be cut by 10% in the next year, new Prime Minister David Cameron has announced.

Government department headquarters will also publish online in real time their energy use so that the public can hold ministers and civil servants to account for their carbon footprint.

A government steering group will also be created to deliver emissions targets including members of the Department of Energy and Climate Change, and the private sector.

Prime Minister David Cameron said the UK’s public sector has a bigger carbon footprint than the entire waste industry.

“If we do this, we’ll cut the government’s energy bills by hundreds of millions of pounds,” Cameron said.