Sustainability was firmly in focus across this week’s Chamber forums, from unpacking the reality of greenwashing to exploring funding designed to help businesses improve their environmental impact.
Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce serves as the voice of the member businesses it represents across the local area. As a Chamber, we deliver ten policy sector forums which are drawn from the very member businesses we represent.
Our forums are a great opportunity to meet experts in the field, raise any potential issues and share new opportunities within the Staffordshire business community. The forums also help to shape and influence our policy making.
It’s been a busy week on the forum front, with meetings of our Energy, Environment & Sustainability (EES), Responsible Business and Digital forums.
Our Energy forum received a very informative update from Dr Gavin Milligan of Green Knight Sustainability Consulting, on the topic of greenwashing.
You may have heard of the term ‘greenwashing’. It was first coined 40 years ago and is now regarded as a response to marketing strategies that sought to leverage growing environmental awareness but without showing any genuine commitment to sustainability.
Greenwashing can be epitomised by creating a false impression of environmental responsibility, or through the offer of false or misleading information about the environmental impact of a company’s operations, products or services.
Dr Milligan showed us how we can be easily drawn in by claims made by businesses. He went on to define other terms such as greencrowding in which a business will ‘hide’ in a group (such as a trade body) to avoid discovery.
Greenlighting, when a company will focus on a particularly green feature of operations or products, however small. This can draw attention away from other environmentally damaging activities which may be happening elsewhere.
Greenshifting – when a company will imply that the end customer is at fault and shifting the blame to them. He also discussed greenrinsing, when a company will change targets before they are achieved, in order to hide a lack of progress. In other words, moving the green goalposts!
Ollie Fox of Staffordshire County Council gave us an update on Staffordshire County Council’s Improving Green Spaces Pilot Programme.
Eligible businesses from across the county will be selected to receive up to £1,000, which will allow them to create a new green space or make meaningful improvements to existing green spaces on their site.
Participants will also receive expert advisory support to help shape their project and ensure that each green space maximises benefits to wildlife, holds visual appeal and positively impacts staff and visitors. Further details of the scheme can be found here:
Improving Green Spaces – Staffordshire Business & Environment Network
This update was followed by a presentation from John Carr of Longcape, who discussed the former Chatterley Whitfield coal mine in the north-east of Stoke-on-Trent.
A mine energy heat project could recover low-grade heat from former mine workings on the site and upgrade this through heat pump technology. The higher-grade heat could then be used in both the site buildings and through a District Heat Network (DHN) to heat other parts of the city, including schools, homes and a hospital.
A data centre on the site could provide additional waste heat that could be channelled into the District Heat Network, increasing both its scale and reach.
Proposals are at a relatively early stage but if it can attract the necessary financial support, could make a real difference to the way we heat our city in the future.
If you would like to join our Energy, Environment & Sustainability forum or if you have any questions about our Chamber forums, feel free to get in touch:
