Clean Energy and Sustainability

COP26 Conference

In 2021 the COP26 Conference came to the UK, being hosted in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12.

To support the message of COP26, the Worcestershire LEP and Growth Hub are supporting the Government’s “Together for our Planet” campaign. This campaigns aims to help businesses understand their environmental impact and supports them to make a #NetZero pledge.

More information on the Together for our Planet campaign be found on the dedicated website here. – https://smeclimatehub.org/uk/

Green Skills Week 2021

Following on from the COP26 conference and recognising the growing need to create a sustainable world for the future, the Worcestershire LEP and County Council have built the Green Skills Week programme working closely with the county’s schools and colleges to inspire young people about the green skills they will need in the future.

Green Skills relates to new jobs which are anticipated over the next 5-15 years as part of the world’s drive to met Net Zero emission targets, but also green skills applies to current jobs and professions which are expected to require staff to have green skills when delivering their day to day activities.

Working with Worcestershire County Council, we have put together a detailed activity plan which our local schools and colleges will be working from during the week.  Below you can find a few examples of the content which has been put together to support Green Skills Week.

Agritech and Pershore College

Nunnery Wood

To find out more about all the activity taking place during the week, and to access some of the support materials, visit the Skills4Worcestershire website here. 

Local Sustainability Events and Webinars

Here you can find upcoming events to do with COP26 and the county’s journey to NetZero.

Worcestershire Energy Strategy

The Worcestershire LEP has launched an Energy strategy for the county which aims to create a thriving low-carbon economy across Worcestershire by 2030, which will support the creation of high value jobs, and stimulate investment and clean growth across the county.

This strategy has been produced to help identify the opportunities and challenges that Worcestershire faces in its movement towards a low-carbon, low emission economy.

To view the Energy Strategy for Worcestershire, click here.

Green Energy and Sustainability Business Support

There is a variety of support available within the county to help businesses with investing in green energy and sustainability changes. Below is a short summary with links to the relevant websites where you can find out more.

Clean Growth programme

Part of the Worcestershire County Council’s business support package, businesses are able to gain funding and grants to make sustainable changes to their business. Within the Clean growth programme their are various smaller schemes such as the Business Energy Efficiency Programme (BEEP) and Low Carbon Opportunities Programme (LOCOP).

Businesses interested can access these programmes through the Worcestershire Growth Hub, find out more on their website. – http://www.business-central.co.uk/clean-growth/

Specialist Green Energy Advice 

The Worcestershire Growth Hub is currently offering local businesses free specialist 1-1 business advice to help guide local companies with understanding their emissions and the changes they can make to reduce their emissions and reach Net Zero. This advice is FREE to businesses however, they is limited availability on the programme so businesses are encouraged to sign up to receive the support before March 2022.

To find out more information on the programme, visit the Worcestershire Growth Hub website here. – https://www.business-central.co.uk/business-advisors/

Local Low carbon suppliers

There are numerous businesses in the county which are already investing in low carbon and renewable energy schemes. These business case studies are listed below to demonstrate how other businesses can adapt by implementing similar approaches.

– Indra Renewables
– Thorlux Lighting
– Woo Bikes

If you are interested in exploring renewable energy solutions for your organisation, Worcestershire has a range of Low Carbon suppliers which you can contact for more information on the below details. By being listed in this table it is not a recommendation from the Worcestershire LEP. This list is purely to educate on the range of Low Carbon suppliers located within the county. If you are a supplier of renewable energy or energy efficiency services and would like to be included on this list, please contact us by clicking the email link here.

As well as this, Worcestershire is a part of the Midlands Energy Hub hosted by Nottingham County Council, an initiative funded by Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Nottingham city council have said it will enable new energy projects to be developed locally, which will serve local authorities across nine local enterprise partnerships in Midlands region. As a part of this, all nine LEPs will receive a Senior Energy Projects Officer to provide additional local capacity and expertise to the LEP and partners to support delivery of local energy schemes. It is also hoped that it will lead to the development of new hi-tech ‘green technology’ companies.