Programme designed to help Welsh businesses reduce carbon emissions announces inaugural award winners
A programme designed to help Welsh businesses develop ambitious carbon emission reduction plans to help them achieve net zero has announced the winners of its inaugural awards. The Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme Carbon Emission Reduction Programme has seen eight businesses participate in a three-month immersive programme, partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government. The businesses taking part received intensive support to help measure their baseline carbon emissions and develop emission reduction plans to achieve net zero by 2050. This support included specialist workshops, a dedicated Masters student intern placed in each business and specialist coaching from leading sustainability experts. The Carbon Emission Reduction Pilot Programme Awards took place on Tuesday, 14th March, to celebrate the achievements of the businesses participating in the programme. An independent panel of sustainability experts judged the awards, chaired by Jonny Tench, the private sector lead advisor for the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales.Commenting on their award win, Mat Davies, Director of TB Davies, said: “As a small business, we wanted to reduce carbon emissions but needed support to develop a realistic and detailed plan. This programme was hugely helpful and designed to help businesses like ours meet the challenge ahead. The workshops were helpful and informative and having a mentor working with us kept us focused on our goals. Most importantly, having an intern working with us was brilliant, as it provided us with additional capacity and the specialist knowledge we needed to benchmark our emissions.”
The Carbon Emission Reduction Programme was launched to support the Welsh Government’s Net Zero Wales Plan, which outlines the commitment to achieving net zero and a greener, stronger, fairer Wales.