Speaking to the West Midlands Business Council today, Energy and Climate Change Minister, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath expressed his admiration for the positive way West Midlands’ business had faced the challenges of the recession. He pledged that the Government would continue to do everything it could to insure a reliable, cost effective energy supply for business:

“We recognise the importance of secure, reliable and affordable energy supplies for business, particularly in these tough economic times. The recent fall in energy prices is good news for business and we are looking at making sure that businesses, large and small can feel the benefits of that and get secure energy contracts in place for the future.”

He also talked about the opportunities the growing low carbon sector is already providing in the West Midlands:

“The West Midlands is already taking on the challenge of climate change. It’s low carbon sector accounts for some £8.4 billion of the region’s economy, comprising 4,179 companies with around 74,000 employees. Despite the economic downturn the sector is expected to grow by around 4% in the next year and employment in green industries by up to 45% to 2015.”

“The UK’s Low Carbon Transition Plan puts in place a roadmap to build on this strong foundation to put us in a prime position to take advantage of these opportunities. I have no doubt that the West Midlands, as a hub for Advanced Green Manufacture, innovation and transport, will play a key role.”
Notes to editors

1. An example of the ground breaking work in the West Midlands is the £80 million Low-carbon Vehicles Programme. This innovative programme supports West Midlands automotive companies to conduct further research and development into low carbon vehicle technologies. Advantage West Midlands has contributed £30 Million and with additional support from Jaguar Land Rover (JLR),this will create a Low Carbon Vehicle Development and Proving Centre which will link high tech research with manufacturing. It will have a particular emphasis in developing new drive trains and lightweight structures and will link up with similar programmes elsewhere in the UK.

2. The UK Climate Projections published last month show that if we don’t take action by 2080 the temperature for the hottest day of the year in the West Midlands could increase by a scorching 100 C by 2080 and even by 2040 there could be 11 per cent less rainfall in the summer leading to subsidence, lower crop yields and water stress.

http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.aspx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=406372&SubjectId=2

“Birmingham City Council must speed up efforts to make the city more sustainable if it is to stand a chance of meeting challenging climate change targets, according to a leading environmental business expert.

“CEO of Environmental Business Communications David Middleton likened the council’s efforts to those of a supertanker whose rudder had been turned, but was still taking time to change direction.”

Read the full article by Patrice John on the Birmingham Post website (6 Jan 2009)

David Middleton appears to be the leading light in MEBC:

“MEBC is the Midlands Environmental Business Company, the corporate proprietor of the Midlands Environmental Business Club Limited.

“The company was formed in 2001 to reflect the growing role of MEBC in developing business opportunities within the environmental business sector.

“The Club, formed in 1991, is a highly active network of more than 300 individuals and organisations from both the corporate and public sectors of the central region of the United Kingdom, providing an information and experience exchange network, and signposting service. MEBC is committed to promoting the values of sustainable development and the benefits to be gained when they are practically deployed.”

Quoted from www.mebconline.com

“We are the only UK council to take part in the Clinton Initiative on International Climate Change. Our vision and commitment on climate change is to reduce the city’s carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2026.

Read the full article: Jan 7 2009 by Patrice John, Birmingham Post

Let us know what you think in the comments below.

You may be interested to read an article about Fiona Silva of the Vegan Society in the Birmingham Mail.

Quotes from the article:
“It is estimated that a varied vegan diet uses less than one third of the land needed for a typical diet.