Common Resource has been involved in numerous projects and provides services to local and national organisations to help combat climate change.*

Use Existing Resources
The project will assist the community to work with already established support organisations to actively champion the action that they promote. Government Departments and major organisations (i.e. DEFRA, DTI, Carbon Trust, Environment Agency) offer extensive support to businesses. These organisations and many others have clearly set out the UK and London-wide sustainability plans to achieve with our local contribution. However based on our local experience many SMEs do not feel effected by Environmental and Climate Change laws and will simply continue business as usual until they are forced to change. Common Business encourages a proactive approach to address this major gap by focusing its support on measuring CO2 emissions through initial energy audits and then defining an action plan to measure progress and potential carbon reductions as an on-going climate change progress reporting method.

Create Database
A database will contain a list of outreach and web-based advisory organisations and Government departments for which we can act as a local intermediate, ensuring correct interpretation and implementation of their international and national action plans at local level.

Direct Business Activities on CO2 reduction
Businesses often fear most the various daily barriers to economic growth or survival. The climate change actions required often appear secondary to the primary business concerns. They will be invited to meet as individually or as groups, to discuss the ways their business can contribute to change, empowering the managers to lead change internally in their organisations. The potential of a local Climate Change financial annual award could be a necessary tool to create interest on such involvement from local business people with support from the local council and corporate banks and companies operating in Hackney.  

Indicators
The specific template of indicators will be designed once the business community has been fully recruitment and consulted to reflect their views, priorities and needs. A draft of relevant indicators is being developed and matched with local, national and international indicators as specified by the UN, EU and UK climate change governing bodies.

Online database entries of C02 measurements are collected and assist the business manager to systematically move through every aspect of the business and enter the level of energy use, including how staff uses energy for personal need while at work. Individual activities that define the business differ, but many of the functions across businesses are the same and all will consider ESE. Some examples of general easily measurable indicators to be included are:

Use and efficiency of Electricity and Gas (with tips to move to renewable energy suppliers); Management of water heating; energy efficiency rating in plant/machinery; energy efficiency rating in office/business premises; method of transport used and management of movement for staff, products, services and supplies (monitor petrol, gas and oil consumption); waste and resource consumption, reuse, recycling and disposal; water use.

The businesses will be guided to understand that some elements of C02 emissions are related to the business direct (e.g. use cheaper or alternative supplies, resource sharing) or indirectly (e.g. the business may not own a vehicle but uses a courier or taxi). Finally businesses will be given relationships of CO2 emissions per staff, profit and sales, products and services supplied to the community to understand and monitor their climate change impact.

*This project is currently under development - partner and funder opportunities available. Please contact us.