- Flexible workspace provider BE.Spoke has become one of the first companies to join the Mayor of London’s scheme to decarbonise businesses.
- The city-wide programme aims to tackle the climate emergency by achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.
- Currently 36 per cent of London’s carbon footprint is made up of emissions from heating and powering commercial and industrial buildings.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, launched the new programme on 16th March 2021 to help businesses tackle the climate emergency with a view to achieving London’s target of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.
Calling on London businesses to cut energy usage across all their buildings, the Business Climate Challenge provides a range of support to help them achieve this.
BE.Spoke, with its Marshalsea Road building, is among the first businesses to sign up to the pilot scheme launched in Southwark, with affiliated businesses agreeing to reduce their buildings’ energy consumption by 10 per cent within the first year, with a roadmap to bring their emissions down to net zero.
London’s businesses have a critical role to play in driving a green recovery from the pandemic and addressing the climate emergency. Currently 36 per cent of London’s carbon footprint is made up of emissions from heating and powering commercial and industrial buildings.
The scheme will help businesses reduce costs, improve the energy efficiency and help make their buildings suitable for staff to return after the pandemic. Retrofitting buildings and improving the energy efficiency of workplaces will play a crucial role in reducing emissions as well as creating green jobs.
The Challenge is being freely supported by Bloomberg Associates and piloted among businesses which are part of Better Bankside business improvement district (BID).
The year-long pilot will see up to 20 businesses receive tailored advice from professional services consultants Turner & Townsend on decarbonising their buildings and reducing energy consumption. Free technical support will include a buildings audit and a personalised roadmap to bring carbon emissions down to net zero. If successful, the aim is to expand the scheme across London
BE.Spoke is delighted to be among the first businesses to sign up which include Shakespeare’s Globe and London Marathon Events, together with Fagerhult Lighting and software company Kubrick Group.
The Mayor has simultaneously launched sector specific guidance on the London Business Hub to help more businesses achieve their climate goals. From tackling building emissions and supply chains, to considering the climate impacts of investments, the Hub provides a checklist for helping businesses develop climate action plans and signposts them to expert guidance.
Commenting on BE.Spoke’s involvement in the scheme, BE.Spoke Managing Director, Jonathan Weinbrenn said: “I’m incredibly proud and excited that BE.Spoke is one of the very first five businesses to be accepted onto the Mayor’s Business Climate Challenge, along such eminent partners as Shakespeare’s Globe and the London Marathon Events.
“We have a huge responsibility (and opportunity) to impact climate change and reduce carbon emissions, something the office market has historically been slow to adopt.
“As a business we’ve been operating at zero % to landfill since 2015 and in 2018 we switched to using only renewably sourced electricity across our portfolio. But there’s so much more to do!
“I’m indebted to Julie Tucker, our CSR lead and Ashley Hughes, our head of facilities, who have been driving this initiative together with our BE Offices Green Group colleagues.”
Commenting on the scheme itself the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I’m committed to a green recovery from the Covid-19 crisis and am doing everything I can to give Londoners the tools and support they need to help the capital emerge as a cleaner, greener place to live and work.
“This exciting new initiative encourages businesses of all sectors to look at how they can cut emissions from their buildings and gives them the support and advice they need to put their plans into action.
“As the UK prepares to host the COP26 climate summit, businesses can make a massive contribution to our green recovery and in our wider efforts to tackle the climate emergency. I’m looking forward to seeing how our city’s dynamic and innovative businesses take on this challenge.”
Chief Executive of Shakespeare’s Globe, Neil Constable, said: “We are delighted to partner with the Mayor of London for the Business Climate Challenge. The Globe is committed to playing an important part in contributing to London reaching the target of becoming a zero-carbon city by 2030.
“In April, we are hosting an online symposium, ‘Globe 4 Globe: Shakespeare and Climate’, exploring the relationship between Shakespeare’s works and the climate crisis. This is one of many future events at the Globe to help battle the ecological crisis we all face.”
BE.Spoke is part of the BE Offices Group of companies which back in 2009 formed their own Green Group to measure and challenge every process in the business that has an environmental impact, to make every one of these processes greener, more energy efficient and better for the environment. BE has an ambitious goal to be carbon neutral by 2025.
