Supporting low carbon business

What we want to achieve

Local businesses are an important part of Medway’s journey to net zero carbon and can be leaders in innovating and adopting new practices. We want to help support businesses with their efforts to become more sustainable.

How we will do this

We have set out a range of actions for how Medway can respond to the climate emergency. These range from actions that the council will take to lead by example, to those that will support the community to act.

In our Refreshed Climate Change Action Plan, we highlighted 15 actions that are a priority to support our journey to net-zero. The following action is marked as a priority:

 

brief case iconEngage with Medway's largest businesses and organisations to work jointly on initiatives that reduce energy use or generate renewable energy.

Examples of other actions we'll be taking:

light bulb with leaf insideEngage with local business owners through the Business for Medway network and residential homes, day care and developers to develop awareness of the climate change action plan and encourage them to work towards the net zero carbon target.

renewable energy iconSupport and promote low carbon and circular economy opportunities to businesses in Medway.

handshake iconDevelop the market for local business and local jobs to support the growing low carbon economy.

Our progress so far

  • It was agreed at the first meeting of the Medway Business Awards to include climate change as an award category.  
  • A business engagement campaign has begun to build contacts with Medway’s businesses. 
  • Current initiatives, such as the Kent Realising Electric Vans (REVS) scheme, are being promoted using newsletters, events, leaflets and our website. Regular meetings scheduled with climate change team to brainstorm future initiative. 
  • We have supported the Kent REVS scheme, which offers businesses a free trial of an electric van. The scheme aims to help businesses be more comfortable switching to electric vehicles, as they would have had the opportunity to try them out and see that they are a viable option, without making any commitments. Farleigh Coaches was the first Medway business to have participated in the Kent REVS scheme. The 2-year scheme is funded by Highways England and has been promoted across environmental social media channels and with business networks. 
  • Medway Adult Education promoted a Level 2 Certificate in Understanding Climate Change and Environmental Awareness e-learning course. 
  • Medway Adult Education provide 'Remake' craft sessions. The classes are an opportunity for the community to learn to re-use, mend, upcycle and repair. Donated, recycled and repurposed resources are used. Projects have included making cosy cookers using recycled materials, sewing projects using leftover materials and learning how to deconstruct an old coat to make a new jacket.
  • Pledges which support progress towards the Carbon Trust standards and Environmental Management Scheme Accreditation have now been embedded in the Kent and Medway Healthy Workplace Award programme. Case studies of organisations which undertake pledges, to support carbon reduction and combat climate change in practice, are being collated and shared with other businesses using our climate change webpages and social media platforms, to inspire wider adoption.

Read all the actions

To read all the actions in our plan:

Combat climate change

Only together can we combat climate change. Find out what you can do to take action.

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