Low Carbon Services
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All enterprises, whether in the private, public or third sector, face the challenge of improving their performance, productivity and competitive position, and to do this within a global economy, they increasingly need to be carbon-sensitive in their approach.
Adoption of Low Carbon Technologies and Systems
Pro Enviro is a UK leader in providing low carbon, process optimisation, resource efficiency and waste management solutions to manufacturing and other businesses and the public sector. The breadth and depth of our expertise enables us to add value and make a substantial difference to the clients we assist. The principal services that we offer include process optimisation audits and advice, action planning and implementation of strategies to boost profits and increase competitiveness. This includes resources advice and planning (water, energy, materials, waste), sustainable product design, sustainable supply chain management and innovation, legislative compliance and licensing, procurement, impact and carbon footprint assessment, policy and management systems (QMS, EMS, H&S, IMS) advice and behavioural change programmes.
Pro Enviro also offers services relating to the design, installation and commissioning of all types of renewable energy systems such as:
- Biomass
- Air source heat pumps
- Ground source heat pumps
- Photovoltaic systems (PV)
- Solar hot water systems
Renewable energy is generated from natural resources, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are naturally replenished on a sufficiently rapid time-scale so that they can be used more or less indefinitely.
Benefits of Adopting Low Carbon Technologies and Systems
All enterprises, whether in the private, public or third sector, face the challenge of improving their performance, productivity and competitive position, and to do this within a global economy, they increasingly need to be carbon-sensitive in their approach. Adopting a more innovative and low carbon business approach could bring you:
- Increased profits, competitiveness and resilience along with reduced risks
- Differentiation from your competitors in the eyes of your customers
- New marketing messages and access to emerging carbon-sensitive market places in the UK and internationally
Business Strategies For Climate Change
Adaptation to climate change consists of initiatives and measures to reduce the vulnerability of natural and human systems against actual or expected climate change effects.
The degree of uncertainty surrounding future climate predictions does not help with adaptation decision-making; however the Stern Review suggests that “…effective adaptation will involve decisions that are robust to a range of plausible climate futures and are flexible so they can be modified relatively easily”. For companies and individuals it will be difficult to weigh up the costs and benefits for making investments in adaptive action. Market forces alone will not bring about the level of adaptation required if the range of climatic predictions is accurate. Adaptation across markets, bridging of financial constraints, and inclusion of the poorest in society will require policy makers to act also.
Inactivity on the part of businesses to respond to the challenges of climate change is often put down to the inherent uncertainties of the potential impacts of a changing climate on business operations and services. However, there appears to be great deal of consensus amongst the scientific community that anthropogenic climate change is happening. There is more information and knowledge on climate change than exists about demographic changes, interest rate movements, currency fluctuations or market variations. However, even in light of these uncertainties, businesses make decisions every day based on these uncertain drivers. Although there are still uncertainties about the precise impact of climate changes at individual locations, there is currently a wealth of sufficient information on how businesses can incorporate climate risks in to decision making. The uncertainties can be better appreciated and understood by employing climate change scenarios and by identifying, and, where possible qualifying and quantifying, thresholds and sensitivities.
In general, businesses and business sectors are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change if they are:
- Currently affected by weather events.
- Make long term investments (and is especially true for infrastructure investments).
- Operate in global markets and engage with global suppliers.
However, risks from the potential impacts of climate change should not be considered in isolation to the wider socio-economic and market environment. The UK Government has recognised that businesses could be significantly affected by climate change and adaptation to some of the inevitable affects is crucial if businesses are to remain competitive. However, little attention and research has paid to this issue.
Businesses continually deal with a number of external risks, and although businesses may be weather-dependent, climate change adaptation will not be very high, if at all, on their list of priorities. The reasons for this are:
- Climate change signals are often weak and somewhat ambiguous.
- In the short term, other change drivers provide clearer signals that compete for attention and take priority; thereby dominating decisions making.
- Socio-economic trends in the longer term are perceived to present a greater threat.
Evidence suggests that hot summers and/or wet winters impact considerably - both positively and negatively - on businesses operating within and across a number of sectors, including construction, transport, retail and manufacturing. Further sector studies, such as in the insurance and utilities sectors, have also demonstrated the potential for impacts. Moreover, the impact of extreme weather events on businesses can be particularly profound, encompassing direct costs, uninsured costs, business interruption and reputation loss.
As a consequence of the potentially significant impact of climate-related events on the business community, businesses need to develop strategies that address risk proactively as the marketplace and the business environment changes around them. As uncertainty increases, the correct strategic decisions can afford significant payoffs, while inappropriate choices carry a high risk of systematic failure.
The implications of climate change for the business community, their investors, customers and employees in failing to manage climate risks could be considerable:
- Value, return and growth will reach a situation when increasing awareness, understanding and appreciation of climate change will challenge past expectations.
- Business decisions made by directors, planners and professional advisors may be exposed to legal challenge.
- The business implications of exposure and risk to climate change impacts on value, return and growth are likely to bring about credit rating revisions and increases in the costs of capital.
- Customer expectations, needs and preferences will change as climate change impacts become more evident.
- Government is more likely to enact prescriptive regulation if businesses fail to respond with adaptive action.
The recognition and interpretation of climate sign...
The recognition and interpretation of climate signals can be particularly difficult as:
- Evidence of change is ambiguous (weather is inherently variable) and signals are weak (and sometimes conflicting).
- Other change drivers provide clearer and less ambiguous signals that compete for attention and resources.
- Interpretation of climate change signals may require businesses to modify their embedded routines for dealing with weather; this may require a shift in thinking away from reliance on routines based on past experience to one that requires a predictive approach that recognises a changing and increasingly uncertain future.
- There is confusion between mitigation and adaptation.
- Guidance pertaining to interpretation currently comes from specialists who cannot provide clear and definitive advice.
Businesses that fail to recognise these climate-related signals, or fail to adopt appropriate strategies, risk losing their competitive edge and ultimately may even not survive in the future. However, successful businesses will view change as an opportunity and recognise the need to incorporate adaptation in to their strategic thinking and business planning. Suchbusinesses generally demonstrate strong leadership, entrepreneurial skills and an innovative culture, which enables them to adapt and successfully exploit new technologies and practices to support their strategic planning. Successful, long term business adaptation will require the business community to:
- Recognise and respond to threats early on.
- Identify appropriate and proportionate responses.
- Modify, inter alia, systems, practices, skill sets, financing, and procurement to support and sustain changes and embed them throughout the organisation.
- Make available the necessary resources to instigate and maintain change (on an on-going basis).
- Review, evaluate, assess and feedback the outcomes and implications of change.
Many economic sectors are highly dependent on climatic conditions and already feel the consequences of climate change on their activities: agriculture, forestry, fisheries, tourism, and health. Reduced water availability, wind damages, higher temperatures, increased bushfires and greater disease pressure lead to damage to forests. Increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme events such as storms, severe precipitation events, sea floods and flash floods, droughts, forest fires, and landslides cause damage to buildings, transport and industrial infrastructure and consequently impact indirectly on financial services and insurance sectors. Even damage outside the EU could significantly affect its economy, e.g. reduced timber supply to European processing industries. Changing climate conditions will for instance affect the energy sector and energy consumption patterns in several ways:
- In regions where precipitation will decrease or where dry summers will become more frequent, water flow for cooling of thermal and nuclear power plants and for hydropower production will reduce. The cooling capacity of water will also decrease because of the general warming of water and discharge thresholds may be crossed.
- River flow regimes will be altered due to changed precipitation patterns and in mountain areas due to reduced ice and snow cover. Silting of dams for hydropower may accelerate due to increased risks of erosion.
- Demand for heating will drop but the risk of power disruptions will raise as summer heat pushes up demand for air-conditioning resulting in an increased demand for electricity.
- Increased risk from storms and floods may threaten energy infrastructure.
Major transport infrastructure with long lifetimes such as motorways, railways, waterways, airports, ports and railway stations, its functioning and related means of transport are weather and climate sensitive and therefore affected by a changing climate. For example:
- Sea-level rise will reduce the sheltering effect of breakwaters and quay walls.
- Risks of damage and disruption from storms and floods and also due to heat waves, fires and landslides are generally expected to increase.
In order to understand the potential impact and scope of climate change on a business’ activities and services, it is necessary to define which area/s of business activity could be most affected and to what degree. The UK’s Climate Impacts Porgamme (UKCIP) – a Government body set up to address the potential impacts of climate change and develop appropriate adaptation responses - has developed the Business Areas Climate Impacts Assessment Tool (BACLIAT) which identifies six distinct areas of a business that could, to a lesser or greater extent, be impacted by climate change:
- Markets – a change in the demand for goods and services, e.g. impact on the Food & Drink sector as dietary needs move towards more ‘summer-based’ preferences.
- Logistics – the vulnerability of the supply chain, utilities and transportation infrastructure. For example, disruption of utilities, transportation and raw material production through flooding, wind and storm damage or subsidence.
- Processes – impacts on production and manufacturing processes and service delivery, e.g. crop production and diversity.
- Finance – implications for current and future investment, insurance, and stakeholder reputation, e.g. future-proofing development projects (particularly at international level).
- People – implications for the workforce, customers and changing lifestyles, e.g. deterioration in office and factory working environments particularly in the summer.
- Premises – impacts on building design, construction, maintenance and facilities management, e.g. internal environment changes with emphasis on less winter heating and more summer cooling (with the avoidance of increased air conditioning use).
Businesses should incorporate thinking on each of the above issues in to their stragic planning to understand and qualify the risks associated with, and to mitigate against the impacts of, climate change.
The Case for Action – Savings on Future Costs
The Stern review on the economics of climate change states that adaptation to the impacts of climate change could reduce costs, on the proviso that policies are instigated to overcome obstacles to action for business. It is believed that market forces alone will not lead to effective and efficient adaptation because of inherent uncertainty in the climate projections and lack of financial resources. Therefore, cost-effective adaptation is the most appropriate solution.
Initial estimates (The Stern Review, 2007) indicate that with a 3-4°C global average temperature rise, the additional costs of adapting infrastructure and buildings to the impacts of climate change could amount to 1-10% of the total costs currently invested in construction in OECD countries. The additional cost of ensuring that new infrastructure and buildings are more resilient to climate change in OECD countries, could range from $15-150 billion each year (0.05–0.5% of GDP). If temperatures rise by 5-6°C, the cost of adaptation is likely to rise sharply, and its relative effectiveness diminished.
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