News Archive - climate change

Climate Change Agreement deadline reminder

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The deadline for applications for the Climate Change Agreement (CCA) is fast approaching and prospective or existing clients are advised to get in touch now.

After a two-month extension was granted by the UK government, companies eligible to apply for the scheme can now do so up until 30 November this year.

However, most trade associations require applications to arrive before the end of October to enable them to be vetted and processed in a timely fashion.

First established in 2001, the CCA incentivises energy and carbon savings through setting energy-efficiency targets whilst also helping to reduce energy costs in sectors with energy-intensive processes by providing a significant discount to Climate Change Levy (CCL)

The current targets provide the basis on which organisations can make improvements to the energy-efficiency of facilities included in agreements over an eight-year period, ensuring their contribution to UK-wide goals, in return for savings worth nearly £300m annually.

We are currently working on applications for existing customers and would welcome approaches from other companies who need guidance in this area or are interested in utilising our expertise in energy procurement, invoice validation and compliance and legislation.

Sourcing green energy

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Green business energy is proving more popular than ever as businesses increasingly set out a procurement energy strategy aligned to sustainability as well as cost.

While not all businesses are able to generate their own energy – a sustainable way of putting less pressure on the national grid – green energy contracts are widely available.

But what exactly is a green energy contract?

Basically, the gas and electricity that powers your premises of work comes from a supplier who has sourced it through a renewable energy generator such as wind or solar farms, hydroelectric power stations or biomass plants.

The amount of energy from renewable sources differs from supplier to supplier; however, it is a legal requirement for them to publish details of their fuel mix.

The more businesses (and households) that adopt this policy, the more renewable energy is fed back into the grid, and the country’s dependence on fossil fuels reduces, helping to alleviate the onset of climate change as a result.

If you’d like some advice on the range of green energy contracts that are currently being offered on the market, please get in touch with one of our energy consultants on 01225-867722

What effect will Covid-19 have on global warming in the long-term?

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Even in the relatively short period of time that the world has been in lockdown – although it sometimes feels like years – the fall in energy use and emissions has had a profound impact on the environment. Clear canals in Venice was one thing but a see-through sea on Blackpool’s coast, who’d have thought we’d ever see the day!

Energy demand has plummeted during the Covid-19 pandemic which is obviously a sign that the economy is suffering a major slowdown, and as a result global carbon dioxide emissions are anticipated to be eight percent lower this year compared to 2019. It is a silver lining to what is otherwise a metaphorical, if not meteorological, dark cloud.

But whilst the environmental changes mentioned are striking, carbon dioxide lingers around the atmosphere for a long time, making snapshot judgements about the long-term impact of this period hard to quantify, although atmospheric expert, Keith Shine, forecasts a mere 0.0025°C reduction in global warming in about two decades’ time.

Rebound effect

An article that recently appeared in Foreign Policy in Focus points out that once life gets back to any kind of ‘normal’, emissions will rise, and so too will the levels of pollution that fill the skies.

In fact, the rebound could be even worse.

As the article points out, in the initial aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008, global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion and cement production decreased by 1.4 percent, only to rise by 5.9 percent in 2010.

And the crisis this time could have a longer-term impact on the environment, derailing worldwide efforts to bring about climate change.

Stalled progress

While the need for climate change action has never been more pressing, Covid-19 has prevented world leaders from getting together to tackle the issue.

Due to the pandemic, the UN’S annual climate summit has already been put back from November to an, as yet, unspecified date in 2021.

Looking at the aviation industry specifically, one of the biggest contributors to global emissions (estimated to be 2 per cent), under-pressure airline companies are pressing regulators to delay emissions-cutting policies.

This year was supposed to be a pivotal one for progress in tackling climate change, however Covid-19 is doing its level best to prevent lift-off.