The Environment and Your Business

Reading Green Business Network
 

Reading Borough Council, with support from Kyocera Mita UK and Designation, is developing a web-based community for individuals active on climate change, sustainability and other green projects within businesses and public sector organisations in the greater Reading area.

The website proposes to offer a forum for collaboration and best practice sharing, with the aim of adding value to the individual activities of its members and assisting all of us towards the achievement of the substantial reduction in carbon emissions and other environmental impacts in order to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Join up and get involved now at http://www.rgbn.org.uk

LoCUS (Low Carbon Understanding for SMEs)

The LoCUS project is due to start in 2010. If you are an SME or landlord and you want to work on a carbon reduction programme then this project is for you!

The project brings SMEs and landlords together to form 'clusters', who will work together on projects to reduce carbon emissions from their operations.

The LoCUS project has many partners and will soon be recruiting staff with specialist knowledge in buildings, renewable energy and carbon management who will work with clusters to develop carbon management programmes.

If you are interested in learning more about this project then please get in touch with us at mailto:climate.change@reading.gov.uk

Are you climate prepared?

Think about weather-proofing your business 

An online resource will assist forward-looking businesses in preparing for the effects of climate change. 

‘Preparing for Change: climate-proof your tourism business’ is available at http://www.climateprepared.com.  It has been developed in partnership by Climate South East, South West Climate Change Impacts Partnership, South West Tourism and Tourism South East, and is structured around the impacts of severe weather. 

Each section tells how businesses might be affected, suggests practical actions to reduce the risk or take advantage of the opportunities, and provides guidance to further information and support.

The site contains a checklist to enable businesses to record their progress quickly in adapting to climate change and provides them with a personalised action plan complete with signposts to relevant further help.

With weather patterns changing, severe events such as floods, heatwaves and droughts are likely to become more frequent and intense – the recent floods in Cumbria are an example of something predicted to happen more frequently in future.  http://www.climateprepared.com is designed to help tourism businesses prepare and adapt for the effects of our changing climate - but will be of real use to other hospitality and service based businesses.

Smart businesses are environmentally and socially responsible, but they also know that climate change represents a business continuity issue as well as an opportunity.  Forward-looking businesses are starting to prepare and adapt. In the current economic climate being resilient could mean the difference between success and failure.

This toolkit is designed to help businesses plan for change in a logical, step-by-step way and face the future with greater confidence.