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BUSINESS WEST – CONNECTING BUSINESSES BUSINESS ADVICE Advice and support from Business West


Bristol has high hopes for a sustainable future vision


The Bristol and West of England Initiative has a vision for the future of Bristol which focuses on connectivity, economy, environment, wellbeing, homes & communities and learning & skills, which was set out in Bristol 2050: High in Hope, which is currently being refreshed. James Durie (pictured) asks what can business do to drive sustainability and inclusion?


Here are THREE recommendations…


1. Acknowledge that sustainability and inclusion are important to the business agenda.


Failure to act on these issues will be a threat to business as usual, while those businesses that adapt and embrace these issues will be far more resilient and develop better relationships with employees, customers, suppliers and stakeholders. We have seen some of our members set bold


and ambitious targets to drive companywide change, such as BT, who have adopted the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to reduce the global warming target to 1.5C warming & zero carbon by 2045, and The Bristol of University is the first university in the country to declare a climate emergency.


2. Collaborate with the city and your employees to take action:


Collaboration and best practice


• Join and support the Bristol Green Capital Partnership, the city’s environmental sustainability network for sharing successes and learnings and making new connections.


• Incentivise and enable staff and customers to commute and travel sustainably. This could be by getting Travel West to run staff engagement programmes such as travel shows or by taking part in the Travel West Challenge where businesses and employees compete against each other by taking more sustainable modes of transport to commute to work. Companies could also provide access to pool electric bikes or cars and installing sustainable travel infrastructure such as lockers, showers, electric car charging points (grants may be available from Travel West).


Carbon reduction • De-carbonise business operations through greater efficiency and or a move to renewable energy. Some businesses in the city region will be eligible to access grants to make these improvements through the West of England Green Business Grants and West of England Local Energy Scheme.


Materials • Consider whether the materials used in the business can they be re-used or recycled to avoid waste and extract greater value. This could lead to the development of circular economy business models such as that as our member, Collecteco who help businesses to distribute office equipment to not-for-profit organisations and charities, or it could be the reduction in the use of single use plastics like the City To Sea Refill project.


Inclusion and diversity • Support city-wide diversity celebrations such as St Pauls Carnival and 91 Ways to Build a Global City


18 insight JULY/AUGUST 2019


• Work with Be On Board to enable greater diversity on your board


• Support Babbasa to develop young people from inner city backgrounds realise their potential


• Encourage young leaders to network and play a positive role in the city with Bristol Junior Chamber


• Offer young person with work experience through schemes including Bristol Works


• Work with Key4Life on their scheme to offer an ex-offender with work experience to help reduce re-offending


• Demonstrate commitment by signing up to the Bristol Equality Charter and/or Bristol Women in Business Charter


• Sign up to the TISC Online Register to address modern day slavery.


3. Support and engage with the Bristol and West of England Initiative as it refreshes its 2050: High In Hope ‘big picture’ vision


Let’s open the conversation, share ideas and work together to make Bristol & The West of England a shining example of how we can make a purposeful change for good on sustainability.


For more information please visit: https://www.businesswest.co.uk/initiative/ west-of-england/


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