Net Zero Edinburgh: One Year In
Net Zero Edinburgh
Last year was a busy year for our projects team with the launch of the Net Zero Edinburgh project at the start of 2023. The project is funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund via the UK Government and City of Edinburgh Council, and it aims to support Edinburgh’s SMEs on their journey to net zero as well as help decarbonisation and circular economy projects in the city.
Through the project the team has supported over 100 SMEs on their journey; supporting businesses who are at the very start of their journey to businesses looking for support in specific areas. The free support has included helping businesses to understand how to calculate their carbon footprint, including scopes 1 and 2, supporting businesses to understand what first steps they could look to take as well as providing information on what funding is available to support businesses.
As well as supporting businesses one to one in the autumn we launched our first Net Zero Edinburgh cohort which saw 11 businesses participate in 3 half day workshops, delivered by our delivery partners the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute. The businesses received intensive tailored support to help them calculate their carbon footprint, including scope 3, as well as support to plan and write a carbon reduction plan for their business.
Alongside the support for businesses we also ran a number of events. In June last year we held our Net Zero Innovation event which focused on the importance of innovation in supporting us to achieve net zero. With over 40 attendees in the room, we heard from David Townsend, Founder and CEO of TownRock Energy which is a geothermal energy specialist consultancy and technology R&D business. One of the projects that stood out during the presentation was the BODYHEAT project which saw TownRock Energy partner with an arts and events venue in Glasgow to install a system that collects body heat from venue visitors and store it underground to be used to heat or cool the venue.
We also hosted our first Lunch and Learn Roundtable for the Tourism and Events sector, which saw 12 businesses come together to learn what steps they could take to help kick-start their net zero journey. Attendees also had the opportunity to hear from the EICC to hear what actions they are taking as well as get an opportunity to network with other businesses in the sector, share learnings and best practice.
Looking forward
Looking to 2024, it’s been a busy start to the year; our second net zero cohort started in March, with workshops running in March, April and May, we have our next free net zero event on Thursday 30th May, and we are continuing to support SMEs in the city to help them on their net zero journey.
If you are interested in any support please get in touch at netzeroedinburgh@edinburghchamber.co.uk. We also have a lot of resources and toolkits to support businesses on the Net Zero Edinburgh website
