Tag: Climate Change Bill

Employers urged to ‘switch off’ workers

Employers urged to set up ‘green initiatives’ for workers.

Employees should be given more encouragement to work to reduce energy wastage in the workplace, the UK’s biggest union has argued.

Claiming that workplaces currently account for around 50 per cent of total UK carbon emissions, Unison has called for the government to do more to encourage employers to offer green initiatives and make ‘green champions’ out of their workers.

General secretary Dave Prentis explained that businesses can help in the fight against climate change by setting up initiatives such as cycle to work schemes or fair trade coffee breaks. He also pointed out that encouraging employees to switch off electrical appliances when they are not in use or switching to energy-saving light bulbs will help firms reduce their overheads.

“Unison already has a similar project running at Great Ormond Street Hospital for children and three other projects planned for launch later this year. These projects will help us to develop best practise green guidance that can be rolled out to workplaces nationwide,” he added.

Thanks to Mark Stephens

The Carbon Reduction Commitment

The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) will come into effect in April 2010 as the UK takes aggressive steps towards a low carbon economy.

Is your business ready?

The UK must reduce its baseline emissions of six major greenhouse gases by 12.5%. The draft Climate Change Bill commits the UK to reductions in CO2 emissions of at least 26% by 2020 and 80% by 2050.

Will the CRC affect your business?

The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) has been introduced to meet the UK’s climate change targets. This new emission trading scheme aims to reduce carbon emissions in large non-energy intensive organisations by 1.2 million tonnes of carbon per year by 2020. The CRC will be targeting organisations whose electricity consumption is greater than 6,000MWh/yr – equivalent to an annual electricity bill of £500k. However, many organisations are still not fully prepared or aware of the commitments they may face and the actions they may need to take.

Is the CRC an opportunity or a threat?

The Carbon Show is the place for you to address this question. The Environment Agency will be leading exclusive in-depth seminars and workshops to help businesses get up to speed on the CRC. Leading consulting firms like Enviros will be discussing the many business opportunities related to this new initiative.

The Carbon Show is on 29 and 30 September 2009 and is being held at the ExCeL centre in London. It will be a great place to gather the information and resources that your business needs to develop a successful carbon mitigation strategy and compete in the new low carbon economy.

The event is the first ever international exhibition dedicated to carbon, covering everything from carbon consulting, to carbon audits to low carbon solutions for your business.
“Carbon will be the world’s biggest commodity market, and it could become the world’s biggest market overall.”

Louis Redshaw, Head of Environmental Markets, Barclays Capital