CARBON MANAGEMENT FOR ORGANISATIONS

Scottish Courage
Scottish Courage is the UK’s leading brewer and distributor with 27% of the UK beer market and, through its acquisition of Bulmer in July 2003, over 50% of the UK cider market. Scottish Courage produces a wide range of lagers, national and regional ales and stouts, including well-known brands such as Fosters, John Smiths, McEwan’s, Courage, Kronenbourg, Newcastle Brown Ale and Strongbow.

ESD worked with Scottish Courage from October 2003 to May 2004 to help develop a strategic approach to carbon management and to develop an action plan to reduce the impacts of increasing energy and CO₂ emissions related costs. Scottish Courage has now set up an Energy Management Team at the Edinburgh head office, with the aim of co-ordinating energy and carbon management activities across the company and integrating them with the ongoing process of improving production operations.

The indicative action plan showed that there was potential for up to a 30% reduction in CO₂ emissions from energy consumption across the UK production sites. Importantly, the establishment of the Energy Management Team and its high level endorsement means that investment and production planning can be undertaken with an understanding of the energy and CO₂ emissions cost consequences, so that these impacts can be taken into account as part of the decision making process.

Carbon management in local authorities
UK local authorities account for significant aggregate energy consumption and carbon emissions. Whilst individual authorities can vary greatly in size, certain drivers to change are shared: all authorities face rapidly rising energy bills, and many share the common objective of sustainability and carbon emissions reduction. Furthermore, for sectors outside their direct control – for example, local businesses and private housing - local authorities have the ability to leverage carbon emission improvements by taking a leadership role, agreeing shared objectives and structuring contracts and planning conditions to incentivise low carbon outcomes.

ESD is working with a group of 26 authorities across England, from London boroughs and district councils to major metropolitan and county councils, in an innovative pilot project funded by the Carbon Trust to bring about a sustained reduction in carbon emissions in the local government sector. ESD’s team is taking a hands-on approach, based on a five-step model, to help the LAs define baseline emissions, develop an emissions reduction strategy, and identify, plan and implement emission reduction projects. The challenge is not merely to find technical solutions to reduce emissions, but in working with LA counterparts to bring about a long-term change in strategy, policy and planning that embeds carbon management across the whole organisation.

The support to LAs is delivered with the help of a “toolkit”, developed by the Carbon Trust, which includes relevant guidance material, analysis and planning tools, and template reporting formats, all arranged in a structured package.

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