England’s Northwest is striking out to be a low carbon pioneer in the UK, today (16th April) with the launch of Foundation, a climate fund for the Northwest, which will deliver £1m per year for local, community based carbon-reducing projects.
Energy and Climate Change Minister Joan Ruddock MP will officially launch the fund with a personal video message to business and public sector leaders at an event at Halliwells Solicitors in central Manchester.
Called ‘Foundation’, the fund is being established to give individuals and businesses the opportunity to donate to local community projects across the region that are helping to combat climate change, whilst advancing social justice and tackling problems like fuel poverty.
Money raised will be spent on carbon reduction projects ranging from insulation, solar panels and wind turbines, to biological carbon sinks like peat bogs.
Managed by Groundwork Northwest, chaired by United Utilities and with an initial investment of £1.6m from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), Foundation has a target to raise an additional £3m in donations over the next three years.
Energy and Climate Change Minister, Joan Ruddock, said:
“I am hugely impressed by the leadership being shown by the NWDA and Groundwork, which shows the commitment to fighting climate change at all levels across the UK. The work being done in the Northwest should be seen as an example to everyone of what we need to be doing to meet our ambitious emissions reduction targets.
“During the current economic difficulties it is important that we look after the most vulnerable in our society and I am particularly pleased to see a central theme of Foundation’s work is helping households reduce their bills by introducing energy efficiency measures.”
Foundation projects will be selected based on an ability to demonstrate their carbon savings, whilst projects that otherwise struggle to find support elsewhere will be prioritised. Projects will not simply be selected for their pound per carbon saving ratio, rather innovative projects that tackle issues like fuel poverty or biodiversity will be given priority.
Foundation is available to community groups and organisations and those wishing to find out more can visit www.climatefund.org.uk or more information or call the Foundation team on 0161 237 3200.
Foundation is unique in that money raised will be spent entirely in the region. Businesses and individuals finally have a way to donate directly to their local community to compensate for unavoidable carbon emissions.
Foundation is as much about social equity as carbon reduction – projects must realise a reduction in carbon, but equally must deliver a wider range of benefits; including supporting families struggling to pay their heating bills, assisting local schools and community groups, investing in ‘green collar’ jobs and ultimately developing the region’s low carbon economy.
Business will benefit from investing in their local area where their customers and staff live and work – directly assisting their own communities will offer the business a highly visible, tangible return on any donation to Foundation. Businesses can see their donation working twice as hard with Foundation, serving to compensate for unavoidable emissions and fulfilling corporate social responsibility goals.
An action in the Northwest Climate Change Action Plan, Foundation is a not-for-profit fund managed by Groundwork Northwest and a consortium of the NWDA, Energy Savings Trust, ENWORKS, Quantum, CO2 Balance and Creative Concern.
