‘Not just another pledge’: join the Carbon Challenge
‘Not just another pledge’: join the Carbon Challenge
Targeting real carbon reduction in businesses and organisations
8 May 2009
Setting targets and monitoring progress must be at the heart of business and organisational efforts to cut their carbon emissions. That’s the message at the heart of the new West of England Carbon Challenge (WECC), which brings together public, private and third sector organisations in the common aim of reducing their collective emissions by at least 10 per cent by 2012.
Set up by Forum for the Future with input from the Centre for Sustainable Energy, the new initiative was launched by Jonathon Porritt at the Prince of Wales’ May Day Summit in Bristol. (Jonathon Porrit describing The West of England Carbon Challenge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML_MGgmIl8M)
CSE’s Zoe Redgrove helped develop the reporting rules for the Challenge: “The Carbon Challenge is about setting clear reduction targets, supporting action, and being rigorous and transparent in monitoring progress. There are far too many pledge schemes which simply require a public commitment to act but have no follow through in terms of tracking and reporting progress. The Carbon Challenge is different – that’s why we nicknamed it ‘not just another pledge’.”
The WECC is open to all organisations with one or more bases in Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. It will support members to deliver best practice in carbon accounting, management and reduction. Founder members include: University of the West of England, Bristol Zoo, Cap Gemini, Arup, South West RDA, Buro Happold and Halcrow. More details can be found at www.westofenglandcarbonchallenge.org
The Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) is one of the partners in the Challenge alongside The Prince’s May Day Network and GWE Business West; Forum for the Future will coordinate the initiative. CSE has brought to the project its experience of helping to develop and support a similar project in the London Borough of Islington.
If you would like to find out more about the work CSE is doing on the Carbon Challenge and how you might be able to benefit from its experience, you can contact Zoe Redgrove by emailing: zoe.redgrove@cse.org.uk or calling: 0117 9341437.