INNOVATION AND INVESTMENT The private sector is doing its bit, too. Recent research by the manufacturers’ organisation, Make UK, and cloud business solutions company Sage, showed that 47% of the nation’s manufacturers had adopted digital technology plans to decarbonise their businesses. “Britain’s manufacturers are powering forward in their digital journey towards net zero as the sector moves to reduce energy usage and costs, cut greenhouse gas emissions and boost productivity,” according to the ‘Decarbonisation through Digitalisation’ report. Stephen Phipson, CEO of
Make UK, said that Britain’s manufacturers had long been at the forefront of digital innovation
globally and that they had now taken significant steps to cut carbon emissions. But, he added: “In order to supercharge that journey, business needs government to play its part in driving the process forward. To that end, government needs to help them move forward faster by committing to a national rollout of the industrial digitalisation programme, Made Smarter, across the UK and expand its remit to include industrial decarbonisation. “Made Smarter has already
delivered amazing successes in helping SMEs boost their productivity through digitalisation and they are ideally placed to pick up the mantle to help decarbonise through digitalisation.” In August, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and Lloyds
Bank produced a report proposing three changes needed to help businesses hit net zero. It called on the government to review its support and advice to SMEs on moving to the target; large businesses and institutions to continue to drive behaviour changes in their supply chains; and the government to demonstrate commitment and consistency in its net zero plans. The proposals came on the
heels of a BCC survey of more than 1,000 businesses (96% of them SMEs), which found that nine out of 10 did not fully understand what the net zero target meant for them. In the wake of the survey, the BCC and Lloyds brought together businesses in Chambers of Commerce from Liverpool, Glasgow, NE England, West and North Yorkshire and Birmingham to analyse what needed to change. Shevaun Haviland, BCC
“ Made Smarter has already delivered amazing successes in helping SMEs boost their productivity through digitalisation and they are ideally placed to pick up the mantle to help decarbonise through digitalisation.” STEPHEN PHIPSON, CEO OF MAKE UK
director-general, said: “All the businesses we spoke to understand the devastating impact climate change is having on our planet and that sitting this out is not an option. But many smaller firms feel lost in a fog of conflicting information and are reluctant to invest in new technologies when they fear betting on the wrong horse. Mixed messages from government on the importance of net zero are only compounding the problem, as well as a ‘stick’ heavy approach to enforcing change.”
LOCAL STRATEGIES ADDRESSING GLOBAL CHALLENGES Cities across the country are doing their best to overcome the problems. Birmingham, for example, launched a Green Innovation Quarter programme this year to oversee a 400-acre development accommodating 250 businesses and 8,000 workers. A joint venture involving the city council, the University of Birmingham and Tyseley Energy Park, the quarter already houses the Birmingham Energy Innovation Centre – a project overseen by the university and the Birmingham Energy Institute – which has created a platform for a whole range
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