uk low carbon marketing strategy

UK LOW CARBON INTERNATIONAL MARKETING STRATEGYSPRING 2009: THE JOURNEY SO FAR

< > 2/39UK LOW CARBON INTERNATIONAL MARKETING STRATEGY SPRING 2009: THE JOURNEY SO FAR

Foreword IntroductionThe need for a marketing strategy - Why now? The strategy - Objective - Audience The marketing journeyThe low carbon economy – market opportunities and driversPositioning the UKThe propositionThe proposition in action: case studiesNext steps - Partnership - Communications - Delivery - LearningConclusion Working together for a low carbon future Acknowledgements

Contents


Foreword

The international momentum on tackling climate change is building fast. Lord Stern’s landmark Review in 2006 warned that failure to stop greenhouse gases rising to dangerous levels would lead to damage estimated at costing as much as 20% of global GDP. Recent evidence has shown that this change is happening faster than previously thought. Coupled with the volatility of fossil fuel prices and concerns over energy security, the economic costs of doing nothing to address climate change are considerable. The environmental costs are unsustainable. There is no high carbon future.

For this reason, the European Union has already adopted ambitious targets for the shift to low carbon. The successful outcome the Government wants to see at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen at the end of 2009 would only increase this international momentum. A number of countries have also placed climate change investment at the heart of recently announced economic stimulus measures.

This massive shift represents a major opportunity for UK businesses. The UK is already a world leader in low carbon goods and services and home to a diverse range of world-leading low carbon businesses and organisations. These companies are at the leading-edge of the transition to low carbon, and are already making the emerging low carbon economy work for them. The ambition is to expand their number and their international strength.

This global marketing strategy is aligned with the government’s Low Carbon Industrial Strategy, which aims to make the UK the best place in the world to build low carbon businesses, and to equip those businesses to compete in the global market for low carbon goods and services.

The goal is to bring together business, government, academia, professional and other organisations to work together to market the UK and make the most of the opportunities that will come with the global transition to a low carbon world.

The Rt Hon Lord Mandelson Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform

The Rt Hon David Miliband MP Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs


Introduction

The UK Trade & Investment five year strategy ’Prosperity in a changing world’ recommended the creation of coherent marketing strategies1 to promote UK strengths in an increasingly competitive world. Against the backdrop of the global economic downturn this is more important than ever. It is also essential that the UK positions the most innovative parts of the economy for recovery and long term growth.

The new Low Carbon International Marketing Strategy seeks to do that along one of the most strategically important axes of the economy, the journey towards a sustainable and decarbonised world. It will set out a clear direction and journey that will help focus collective efforts and achieve shared goals. Joined up marketing will improve the targeting and co-ordination of marketing activities. The UK Low Carbon International Marketing Strategy will reach across all sectors and across a diverse range of businesses and organisations. Businesses, academia and government working together to develop a common approach and a single voice will achieve greater impact for the UK. The strategy has the aim of promoting positive perceptions about the UK’s ambition to be a global hub for low carbon solutions and use this as the platform to develop new business internationally.

The transition to a low carbon, resource efficient economy is a global environmental and economic imperative. There is no high carbon future. The transition represents a huge economic opportunity for the UK internationally. Success will depend on the UK’s ability to position itself as providing thought, technological and commercial leadership in new markets which will emerge.

The Government has a vision of the UK at the heart of the multi-trillion pound market the global low carbon economy will create; where UK businesses are designing, producing, marketing and deploying the goods and services that will shape a low carbon world; where the UK is seen as a global hub for low carbon solutions and the sustainable prosperity the world must move to.

To provide the right framework in the UK for businesses to thrive in a low carbon economy, and to equip them to compete for low carbon business domestically and internationally the Government has committed to a Low Carbon Industrial Strategy. Many UK businesses are already placing low carbon at the heart of their products, services and supply chains and developing low carbon expertise which is in demand across the globe.

1 UK sector-specific international marketing strategies have been developed in Financial Services, Creative Industries, Life Sciences, ICT, Energy and Advanced Engineering.

“It is clear that businesses that succeed in the 21st century will be those that seize the opportunity to adapt to a low carbon future.” CBI

“Tackling climate change could create opportunities for a company to increase its value by up to 80% if it is well positioned and proactive.” Tom Delay, Carbon Trust

UK LOW CARBON INTERNATIONAL MARKETING STRATEGY SPRING 2009: THE JOURNEY SO FAR

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The need for a marketing strategy

To build its reputation and develop competitive advantage the UK needs to market a compelling low carbon offer now. As well as positioning to take advantage of immediate business opportunities the UK will need to demonstrate that it has the dynamism, flexibility and the innovation and creative strengths for tomorrow’s opportunities which will increase as the take-up and pace of countries transitioning to a low carbon economy accelerates. The UK Low Carbon International Marketing Strategy will drive forward these ambitions through a partnership of government and business led by UK Trade & Investment.

Why now? The international momentum towards a low carbon global economy is building fast. The UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen at the end of 2009, will have a major impact on global market demand for low carbon solutions.

President Obama’s recent economic stimulus package has invigorated the US’s low carbon role and produced the possibility not only of a growing US market but of a potential competitive low carbon leader on the world stage. A review of 15 economic stimulus plans by HSBC found some other countries apportioning significant investment in low carbon recovery, for example 34% of China’s and 69% of South Korea’s plans are expected to be low carbon.1

1 (Source: HSBC Climate Change Global Renewable Energy 19 January 2009).

“The shift to low carbon in the UK, and around the world is now largely inevitable. What is not inevitable is that Britain benefits industrially from the transition. We want to mobilise every bit of expertise and ingenuity that Britain has to offer.

“Moving to a low carbon economy is the way to secure the economic recovery and growth we need at home and take a lead internationally to protect the future of the planet.” Ed Miliband – 6 March 2009

“… In San Francisco there is something about climate change on every street corner.” Industry stakeholder

“… Australia has fundamentally changed – public awareness has gone from zero to very high in 12 months.” Industry stakeholder

The UK has consistently shown international leadership towards a low carbon future. The landmark Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change gave a new sense of urgency – and, importantly, a clear commercial imperative to reducing carbon emissions so that the issue moved up the agenda of boardrooms, governments and consumers across the world. Commissioned by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown (then Chancellor) in 2005, this Review became internationally acclaimed for its groundbreaking thought leadership after its publication in 2006.

UK leadership in a low carbon future has been evident far beyond this groundbreaking work by Lord Stern.

“We have extremely good thought leadership from Institutions like the Carbon Trust and the Hadley Centre.” UK Industry Stakeholder


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Through the Climate Change Act, the UK has become the first country in the world to adopt a legally binding target to reduce carbon emissions – by at least 26% by 2020 and by 80% by 2050, against a 1990 baseline. This 2050 target will be driven by a series of five year carbon budgets, which will require businesses across every sector to lower their carbon emissions, driving UK companies to the forefront of the development of low carbon solutions and contributing to their competitiveness in the global market.

This UK leadership is reaching into the heart of economic activity with the development of knowledge, skills and technologies and by providing advice on policy, redesigning products, services and the living environment, re-engineering processes and spearheading continuous innovation.

The Stern Review in 2006 estimated that the market for new low carbon energy products could be US$500 billion by 2050. Only three years later estimates place the overall added value in the low carbon energy industry alone at US$3 trillion by 2050. No country can ignore the scale of change and opportunity. The case for a new activism to develop low carbon business internationally, which the UK Low Carbon International Marketing Strategy represents, is overwhelming.

– 2007/8 global market value of the Low Carbon Environment Goods and Services (LCEGS) sector2 was £3,046 billion

– It is estimated that overall the global LCEGS sector grew by approximately 4% in 2007/8

– UK has 3.5% of global market share

– China is the largest export market for the UK with 12.06% of overall export total in 2007/8

– In 2007/8 exports accounted for just under 10% of sales (£10.5 billion)

– In 2007 the UK attracted 30% of all European venture capital investment in clean technology

Source: Innovas Report published March 2009

With exports currently only 10% of sales, there is a real opportunity for the UK to increase its global market share from 3.5%.

2 The Low Carbon Environmental Goods and Services sector in this context refers to the environmental and renewable energy sectors and to emerging low carbon activities such as alternative fuels, building technologies, nuclear power and carbon finance. Low carbon has wider relevance – it affects the whole economy. The strategy has been developed with the whole economy in mind.

“Our starting point for working internationally is, does it help deliver on our mission and deliver value to the UK. We have found a strong appetite in a range of countries including China, USA, and Qatar for the expertise we have developed in accelerating the move to a low carbon economy.” Tom Delay, Carbon Trust

“...the task we face is to win a very big share for Britain of a fast expanding global market for low carbon goods and services.” Gordon Brown, Prime Minister


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The strategy

ObjectiveThe overall objective of the strategy is for the UK to speak with a single compelling voice across the world, positioning the UK as a leader in low carbon solutions and as such, the destination of choice for low carbon trade and investment, which in turn will lead to the creation of jobs and wealth.

This will be achieved by:

A strong partnership: – business and Government travelling together on a low carbon international marketing journey

The UK’s unique and special offer: – effectively captured and articulated to trade and investment partners throughout the world

Building reputation: – awareness raising of the UK as a low carbon leader

Delivery: – customer focused activities in the UK and overseas to promote trade and investment

Learning: – sharing knowledge, insights and best practice.

AudienceWho is the strategy aimed at?

UK companies and organisations to join in the –marketing partnership and promote their low carbon solutions

Customers defined as end purchasers: –

Current and potential buyers of UK goods and services –(who may be small, medium or large businesses, organisations and institutions such as Higher Education Institutions, and overseas Governments)

International investors (who may already be involved in –the UK)

Governments, regulators, opinion formers and the –press in overseas markets

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The marketing journey



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The Low Carbon International Marketing journey started in Autumn 2008 with initial research and stakeholder engagement. This document represents that thinking; it outlines a UK marketing proposition, gives an overview of key UK capabilities and strengths spanning different sectors, and a generic account of the main international requirements for low carbon solutions.

The Low Carbon International Marketing Journey – The initial stage

Autumn 2008Input sources

Over 100 stakeholderse.g. manufacturersprofessional services anduniversities

Desk research. Approximately 200 documents: industry insight, academic research, government strategies and reports

Engagement across government

Spring 2009 PropositionSpring 2009 Proposition

Low carbon proposition Core thoughts Key messages 2 sector pilots (Transport and Construction)

Supporting evidence

Case studies

Insights

International demand factors

UK strengths

Current UK offer

Competitor offers


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The Spring 2009 milestone in the journey includes the gathering together of a number of stakeholders as early partners and the start of two strategy pilots at sectoral level.

The next stage of the journey is to establish partnerships with others who want to join in the implementation of the UK Low Carbon International Marketing Strategy. Partners will be invited to contribute their thinking to the approach that is

being developed, and to join in and benefit from the collective UK marketing effort that will result in increased trade and investment. On the basis of the marketing platform described here, UK Trade & Investment will work with the partners and others to develop more detailed marketing propositions in a range of sectors.

Low Carbon Economy

Drawing on market research, the strategy is based on the concept of a low carbon economy as one where all products and services, right through the supply chain, embrace low carbon. This provides the greatest potential competitive advantage for the UK and offers the most opportunities for UK businesses.

‘Low carbon’ is a way of thinking, behaving, and operating that minimises carbon emissions (and equivalents) whilst enabling sustainable use of natural

resources, economic growth, and growth in quality of life. The term as used here encompasses the process of transitioning to and operating within a resource efficient and environmentally sustainable economy. At its heart is the way energy is generated, transported and consumed across the entire economy. It is also a term that has been adopted by many companies and organisations and impacts at the heart of economic and environmental opportunity.


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The scale of the journey towards a low carbon economy is often described as an economic and social revolution, affecting all sectors and levels of the economy and requiring partnership across public and private organisations.

The journey places low carbon at the heart of the economy, providing economic, environmental and social benefits:

Economic: access to new markets and technologies; improved cost and energy efficiency; secure access to energy and resistance to fluctuations in fossil fuel prices; preserving the value of “free” ecosystem services such as natural water purification, soil formation and nutrient recycling; managing reputation and regulatory compliance; job and wealth creation;

Environmental: reduced emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases such as methane, nitrous oxide and hydrofluorocarbons; minimisation of local environmental damage from pollution and resource extraction; drive towards sustainability at a broader level;

Social: mitigating the negative impacts on food security, extreme weather events, disease outbreaks, freshwater availability and rising sea levels; creating a sustained and sustainable growth in quality of life; improved public health through reduced pollution; preservation of natural assets and biodiversity for future generations.

Research has indicated that governments and businesses will have different starting points, and follow individual paths on the journey towards a low carbon economy. Each step on the journey creates opportunities for trade and investment, whether a market has reached the advanced stage of low carbon as business as usual or embarked on initial recognition and scoping of the issues. The journey will be driven by both obligation (regulation) and opportunity (business growth and cost saving). The emphasis across the three groups of benefits will differ across international audiences and messages for each market need to be tailored appropriately.

Although each market must be treated separately, three generic customer needs can be identified that a successful UK marketing campaign will address:

Prosperity: – decoupling carbon emissions from economic growth. As well as carbon reduction, products and services will need to deliver economic and social benefits (increasing energy and process efficiency and designing out waste).

Leadership: – thought, technology and action leadership to act as a sign post and catalyst for transformation.

Innovation: – products and services that bring new opportunities and more effective ways of operating in a low carbon economy.

The low carbon economy – marketing opportunities and drivers

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Positioning the UK



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The UK’s strengths and assets can be clustered into six common themes. These themes enable the UK’s strengths and assets to be presented in a compelling manner internationally.

Partnership: effective collaboration across government, business and academia at national and local levels

Systemic: a truly holistic approach to taking carbon out of the whole supply and value chain

Influential: understanding how to communicate and drive change across government, industry and society to deliver benefits over the short and longer terms

Breadth: understanding the need for a pluralist approach, i.e. for wide range of technologies, systems and ideas to deliver a low carbon future

Commercial: deriving commercial value from new low carbon services (e.g. carbon footprinting) and technologies

Innovative: entrepreneurial and academic excellence combined

Although many of these themes are not unique to the UK, taken in aggregate and presented as a coherent whole they are the basis of a proposition which differentiates the UK from other countries. The individual strengths under each theme will also enable the UK to develop strong leadership and competitive advantage going forwards where that may not exist now.

UK low carbon proposition

Partnership

Breadth

Influential

Innovative

Commercial

Systemic

Positioning the UK


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The proposition

VisionThe future global economy is the whole economy through a low carbon lens

It penetrates all sectors, interactions and transactions. It is therefore everybody’s business and everybody’s opportunity.

Benefits are short and long term, big and small. From the incremental carbon reduction and cost savings of home insulation to the long term shifts in patterns of living and doing business that will bring environmental, economic and social benefits for all.

OfferThe UK offers the knowledge, technology and experience to bring about incremental and sizeable reductions in carbon emissions – a low carbon consultancy on a big scale.

With a progressive business and policy environment that fosters carbon reduction, the UK is designing and developing the solutions that will increasingly prove valuable to international partners looking to reduce their own emissions.

The core proposition for the UK has been developed based on two key foundations:

A – vision for the global low carbon economy of the future

A summary of the UK’s – offer to the world based on current strengths

Proposition

The UK is taking low carbon to the heart of the economy.

The UK is showing the world how to create a thriving low carbon economy, aligning commercial needs with social and environmental responsibilities by placing carbon management in the economic mainstream.


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Overarching strengthsA good business environment and trading partner:

Low carbon transitionThe ability to make change happen:

Carbon reduction capabilities Solutions that minimise carbon production:

Carbon measurement and management Marine, offshore wind and CCS Sustainable buildings Carbon trading Transport

Research and innovation Innovative financial services and access to finance Standard setting Professional services High-value manufacture and engineering Communications and media Training

Committed government Top universities and research institutes Strong institutions Natural resources Progressive corporates Receptive consumers Skilled workforce

The UK’s low carbon offer

Diverse strengths from the traditional to the truly innovative

The benefits of the UK’s offer can be captured as:

Trade: Progressive UK firms bring a systemic approach and focused expertise to low carbon solutions, delivering effective products and services for carbon reduction. The breadth of UK thought leadership, innovation and technology means that solutions can be developed and deployed to approach carbon reduction from multiple perspectives.

Inward investor: We are making the UK the best place in the world to develop and grow a low carbon business. The UK is the ideal test-bed for innovation and commercialisation, combining an enabling business climate and research excellence, with the opportunities offered by receptive consumers and advantageous natural resources. This environment supports the exploration of diverse solutions and the development of globally scalable standards.

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Proposition in action: case studies



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The proposition in action: case studies

There are many powerful and compelling examples of UK organisations taking low carbon to the heart of the economy. These case studies that demonstrate the potential and advantage of the UK offer for overseas partners.

The figure on the right illustrates some organisations that are bringing the UK proposition to life across the six supporting themes and included in this document are a selection of these case studies – the full and growing complement is featured on www.ukti-lowcarboneconomy.org

Arup

BSI

BT

Carbon Trust

Eversheds

Fujitsu

HSBC

Imperial CollegeLondon

Lime Technology

Lotus

Norton Rose

Tesco

ZEDfactory

UK low carbon proposition

Partnership

Breadth

Influential

Innovative

Commercial

Systemic


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Global consulting

Companies and governments around the world are consulting Arup, a global firm headquartered in the UK, to develop their energy strategies and help reduce carbon emissions.

Arup is a global firm of designers, engineers, planners and business consultants, headquartered in the UK. The firm exerts a significant influence on the built environment and is the creative force behind many of the world’s most innovative and sustainable building, transport and civil engineering projects. Aware that current trends in consumption and resource use are unsustainable, the firm sees itself as a visionary, paving the way in sustainability, with low carbon solutions integral to the different areas of its work.

“Many of our clients are global leaders that want to demonstrate their own commitment to global issues,” says Neil Grange, Sustainability Consultant at Arup. “They come to us because they know we do that type of work well. Our staff around the world work in collaboration to develop leading carbon services, with our UK offices playing a major role.”


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Strategy studies such as this pave the way for informed policy making and the development of implementation plans. Crucially, this and other projects we have worked on, such as DeCode for the Carbon Trust, are innovative UK projects, but their methodology is highly transferable to other parts of the world.”

Tailoring solutions

Arup’s wealth of experience in energy strategy development and carbon emissions modelling also led to an appointment by Nakheel, a real estate development company based in Dubai, to carry out a low carbon strategy for the Dubai Waterfront. The Waterfront is a 120km2 mixed-use development under construction on the border of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and will have a population estimated at 1.5 million people by 2020. Recognising the need for the future city to be at the forefront of sustainability practices, the strategy initially focussed on innovative energy practices that would maximise efficiency.

The strategy considered three related aspects of energy: reducing demand to the maximum extent possible, increasing the efficiency of supply, and maximising the proportion of renewable energy supply. This approach was applied to three major aspects of the design: buildings, infrastructure and transport, with a strong emphasis on the interrelationships between water, waste, urban planning, transport and logistics.

Cutting carbon

Arup’s feasibility study to examine ways in which the Thames Gateway could be made a low carbon development area was published by Communities and Local Government (CLG) in 2008. The study was guided by the new Climate Change Act requirement for an 80 per cent reduction in emissions from 1990 levels by 2050 and developed a best practice methodology for establishing the combined impact of carbon reduction scenarios over the timeframe to 2050. It showed that the demand for energy in buildings, particularly existing stock, was likely to account for a substantial proportion of total emissions, and identified seven key measures to achieve the desired reduction, that broadly speaking included zero carbon design for new buildings and retrofit of existing buildings, switching to renewable energy sources and community energy systems.

“Mitigating carbon emissions has to be a priority issue,” says Neil Grange. “In essence, the Thames Gateway study demonstrated that the projected growth in the area and an absolute reduction in emissions of 80 per cent are theoretically possible.


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Leading the way

More recently, Arup’s energy and carbon management sustainability experts have been in talks about opportunities in Canada and Abu Dhabi where similar methodologies could be applied. The firm welcomes UK Trade & Investment working in partnership to develop a UK International Low Carbon Marketing Strategy.

“Any initiative facilitated by the Government in this arena is useful and commendable,” says Neil Grange. “Around the world, the UK is regarded as a leader in innovation and energy efficiency solutions and we need to maintain this lead. Arup is proud to be a leading UK company, and we have established a global brand and reputation which both reflects and helps to build this world view of the UK.”

“To achieve this ambitious project, we placed an implementation team on site, working alongside our client’s team to explain the implications of the low carbon strategies,” says Neil Grange. “Our team developed a suite of Implementation Guideline documents covering buildings, waste, urban planning and logistics, and reviewed the plans and designs for individual phases and buildings to monitor compliance with the low carbon strategies and guidelines. Such projects demonstrate Arup’s capability to provide pioneering solutions that are relevant in unique geographical contexts, bearing in mind that the Middle East has different opportunities and constraints to the UK.”

Contact detailsCompany: Arup Address: 13 Fitzroy Street London W1T 4BQ

Telephone: (+44) 020 7636 1531 Website: www.arup.com


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Achieving sustainable standards

The UK’s national standards body, BSI, is at the forefront of developing standards that promote sustainability in business around the world.

BSI British Standards, a division of the BSI Group, creates standards that promote best practice. Today, there are 31,000 live standards, covering everything from risk management to zoom lenses. They help to create efficiencies in organisations, and support innovation and inter-operability.

BSI takes both a proactive and reactive approach in deciding which areas its standards should cover. It runs 1,278 technical committees comprised of experts from government, academia, business and consumers groups which help to identify economic and social trends that establish a need for new standards. In recent years, sustainability has been an issue of particular concern, and BSI has created leading standards, such as PAS 2050 a carbon footprinting standard for products and services, that helps organisations to reduce their carbon footprint and conduct their business in a more sustainable way.


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As one of the founding members of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), BSI has influence on business standards around the world. For example, ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems began as a British Standard and is now used worldwide, with over 90,000 organisations in 127 countries certified to the standard. BSI also actively promotes the use of British Standards overseas, working with a range of organisations, such as UK Trade & Investment, to promote the benefits of standards.

“The UK has a key role to play in creating international standards,” says Marcus Long. “Organisations around the world respect the intellectual capability that we have here in the UK, and value the rigour that goes into the creation of a British Standard. We have a clear grasp of what needs to be produced and for whom. Even when our standards are not developed into formal international standards, people around the world are free to adopt them. For example, this has happened with BS 8901 which deals with sustainable events. The UK will continue to develop leading standards, particularly in the area of sustainability.”

“Sustainability is perhaps the main area of growth in standards today,” says Marcus Long, Head of External Affairs at BSI British Standards. “Consumers are increasingly demanding that the goods and services they buy are delivered in a sustainable way. Organisations cannot afford to ignore public demand for transparency and social responsibility, and are looking for guidance that helps them to deal with the complex issues that sustainability raises. The standards that we create focus on motivating management to develop more sustainable processes, products and services, and this in turn gives customers confidence that their suppliers have attained benchmark levels of sustainability.”

Promoting international trade

BSI believes that standardisation is key to promoting international trade and works with UK Trade & Investment to develop an understanding of how it can support UK businesses, raise awareness of standards in particular areas, and make UK businesses more competitive on the global stage.


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“It’s been relatively easy to incorporate ISO 14001 into our business. We now recycle and re-use all of the packaging materials that come into the business, cutting our packaging costs to almost zero. We also have a ‘switch-off’ programme in place and link our energy-cost savings to donations to charity. It’s a real group effort and has brought our team even closer together.

“For many years, businesses have been under pressure to recognise their wider environmental responsibilities. Working with ISO 14001 enables you to achieve best practice – which is altogether different from simply making sure you’re not breaking the law.”

Focus on ISO 14001

ISO 14001 helps organisations develop an environmental management system, providing a framework within which they can control the environmental impacts of their activities, products and services, and continually improve their environmental performance.

Since introducing ISO 14001 into its work practices, Aberdeen Fluid System Technologies has been able to cut operational costs and win new business. As Managing Director Gerry Farrell explains:

“We recognised that introducing ISO 14001 would help us adhere to our regulatory requirements and improve our overall business performance. More of our customers and potential customers only want to work with businesses that comply with the standard. We were recently awarded a three-year contract with a major UK North Sea Oil & Gas producer which itself operates to the standards of ISO 14001, and supplier environmental performance was one of the key selection criteria used in the contract award process.

Contact detailsCompany: BSI British Standards Address: 389 Chiswick High Road London W4 4AL

Telephone: (+44) 020 8996 9001 Website: www.bsigroup.com


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Accelerating change

The Carbon Trust is supporting businesses in the UK and around the world to create a low carbon economy. “Our starting point for working internationally is: does it help deliver on our mission and deliver value to the UK,” says Tom Delay, Chief Executive of the Carbon Trust. “We have found a strong appetite in a range of countries including China, the US and Qatar for the expertise we have developed in accelerating the move to a low carbon economy.”

The Carbon Trust was set up by the UK Government in 2001 as an independent company with a mission to accelerate the move to a low carbon economy. It does this by working with organisations to reduce carbon emissions and develop commercial low carbon technologies.

The work of the Carbon Trust ranges from providing practical and strategic advice, finance and accreditation to organisations wanting to reduce their energy use and carbon emissions, right the way through to stimulating the development of new low carbon technologies and investing in low carbon enterprises.

To date, the Carbon Trust has worked with thousands of organisations to reduce over 17 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, helped business save over £1 billion in energy costs and channelled hundreds of millions of pounds into carbon reduction and low carbon technology development projects.

In the last year, the Carbon Trust has been approached by a wide range of countries and administrations seeking to harness its unique expertise and experience in the low carbon sector.

Consulting abroad

In the last year, the Carbon Trust has started working with the China Energy Conservation Investment Corporation, a large state owned enterprise with a remit to develop the clean technology sectors in China, to look at product carbon footprinting and how to catalyse low carbon innovations.

In July 2008, the Carbon Trust agreed to work with the State Governor of Florida on low carbon technology innovation and ways to help reduce emissions in the near term.

In November 2008, the Carbon Trust signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Qatar Investment Authority on a new Low Carbon Innovation Partnership to set up a £250 million Qatar-UK Clean Technology Investment Fund and to investigate the creation of a Low Carbon Innovation Centre in Qatar. The fund will seek to make venture capital investments in clean energy businesses primarily located in the UK.


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Pipeline of opportunity

As moves are made towards a low carbon economy globally, this will bring huge opportunities for those UK low carbon businesses looking to grow. The Carbon Trust can help businesses find their way through the challenges and maximise the commercial opportunities that this move will present.

“We are only eight years into our mission to accelerate the move to a low carbon economy,” says Tom Delay. “We have a huge challenge ahead of us. We think it will be very important to work closely with the likes of UK Trade & Investment’s strategy team to build the pipeline of opportunity for low carbon businesses looking to expand in export markets. Our specialist knowledge of the technologies plus UK Trade & Investment’s knowledge of doing business in overseas markets offers low carbon businesses a unique combination of expertise to help them achieve their commercial objectives.”

Contact detailsOrganisation: The Carbon Trust Address: 6th Floor 5 New Street Square London EC4A 3BF

Telephone: 0800 085 2005 Website: www.carbontrust.co.uk


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Tackling energy challenges and climate change

Consistently rated amongst the world’s best universities, Imperial College London is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research that attracts 13,000 students and 6,000 staff of the highest international quality.

Since its foundation in 1907, Imperial’s contributions to society have included the discovery of penicillin, the development of holography and the foundations of fibre optics. This commitment to the application of research for the benefit of all continues today, with current focuses including interdisciplinary collaborations to improve health in the UK and globally, tackle climate change and develop clean and sustainable sources of energy.

The Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Energy Futures Lab were formed to take on major research and educational challenges in sustainable technology and the mitigation of climate change. Since then, they have become an international focal point for the global energy community.

“The College is one of few places in the world where people can train in energy across the spectrum,” says Dr Peter Evans, Operations Manager of the Energy Futures Lab. “We don’t just deal in the world of scientific theory. We take the results of our research and use it to meet the needs of the outside world, together with industrial sponsors such as BP and Shell.”


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Engaging with industry

Imperial has established a number of routes for getting its research out into industry. Dr Evans says the real-life application of research in industry is a top priority.

“To this end, Imperial Innovations was founded to protect and maximise commercial opportunities arising from research at the College. Imperial Consultants is a multidisciplinary consultancy organisation through which our academic experts provide inventive technology-related services to industry.”

International initiative

Imperial has had a major international focus ever since it was first set up in 1907 and today 30 to 35 per cent of the university’s students come from outside of the UK, including East Asia, India and Europe.

In recent years, Imperial has been active in the Middle East. It is one of a number of world class universities working with Abu Dhabi on its Masdar Initiative, a global cooperative project launched in April 2006 to explore solutions to issues such as energy security, climate change and the development of expertise in sustainability.

One of Masdar’s aims is to train people in their region. To this end, it sponsors students to study at Imperial and then return to Abu Dhabi to implement what they have learned. To serve this new market, the university has designed specific courses that meet needs of the regions with research activities that are valuable and have important developmental benefits. Dr Evans says:

“The Masdar initiative is incredibly exciting. It’s not just of value to the Gulf region but to the whole world. It’s an example of real joined-up thinking, bringing together leading research groups from across the world and providing them with the resources to carry out crucial research aimed at finding new energy and environmental sustainability solutions. The first projects are already in development, and a number of Masdar-funded students have joined our MSc course in Sustainable Energy Futures.”


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Contact detailsOrganisation: Imperial College London Address: South Kensington Campus London SW7 2AZ

Telephone: (+44) 020 7589 5111 Website: www3.imperial.ac.uk

Looking forward

Dr Evans says Imperial anticipates greater demand for its expertise in the coming years.

“We are seeing a global trend towards more multi-disciplinary thinking in tackling major energy and climate change problems. We need to bring together a wide variety of experts, and Imperial’s Grantham Institute and Energy Futures Lab provide a vehicle under which people can work collectively. The UK is generally recognised as a centre of excellence for education and learning. Together with our global reputation for having a strong focus on applying knowledge to industry, we anticipate that the future will keep us very busy!”


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The future’s green

UK company Lime Technology is going back to basics to promote environmentally friendly construction.

Lime Technology began as a spin out from IJP Building Conservation, a UK company specialising in the repair of historic buildings. Over nearly 20 years of experience in the industry, founder Ian Pritchett had observed that the materials used in historic buildings were all low carbon and had little or no fossil fuels used in their production. He began to wonder whether people in today’s world would consider using the same materials in modern day builds.

Having secured early stage funding from IJP Building Conservation, Ian Pritchett faced two further barriers. The first was a technical barrier, in that the technology he wanted to promote was outside the codes of practice. The second was psychological: he feared that his idea would be seen as too unconventional for the conservative building sector to adopt.

“Until this point, the construction industry was paying little attention to its carbon footprint, and was not really considering the use of ecologically sound materials,” says Ian Pritchett.

“I knew that in order to make this business a success, I needed to develop an environmentally friendly range of cost effective products that beat modern materials for performance and quality. I would also have to convince the new-build sector to start thinking with a low carbon mentality, inspired by the way in which things were done hundreds of years ago.”


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“We have developed a range of building materials that use lime as an ecological alternative to cement and petro-chemical based products,” says Ian Pritchett. “Not only do we supply the materials, but we get involved with building design teams to support their ideas and train the contractors themselves to use the products in the best way.”

Creating sustainable alternatives

Ian Pritchett set about developing low energy building materials through research projects with Bristol, Bath and Bradford Universities. The materials are based on unfired earth, lime binders, natural aggregates and plant fibres. To date they have developed three core product ranges. The first is a range of hydraulic lime mortars, plasters and renders called Limetec, which can significantly reduce CO2 emissions from the brick industry by allowing bricks to be recycled when buildings come to the end of their useful life.

The second, Hemcrete®, is a system for creating walls, floors and roof insulation, produced mainly from renewable resources, which can save around 130kg of CO2 emissions from each square metre of wall, almost halving the carbon footprint of a normal new house. In addition Hemcrete® is thermally very efficient and can dramatically reduce running costs.

Lime Technology also produces sustainable masonry blocks made from earth, which can enhance the thermal mass of a house in order to save energy in use.


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Overseas opportunities

Lime Technology is seeing interest in its products from North America, Australia and parts of Europe and in time, hopes to grow its exports to these and other regions.

In January 2009, Lime Technology joined a UK Trade & Investment trade mission to Toronto, Canada to explore opportunities there. Ultimately, the company hopes to find a sister company that will help it to get established there.

“Our global success now will depend a lot on the legislation in different countries,” says Ian. “We have a long way to go, but we feel there is huge potential for our pioneering technology. In the meantime, we will continue to support the Government’s initiatives to make sustainable homes not just a code of best practice, but a legal requirement. We will also continue working to change people’s perceptions about sustainability in building.”

Building for the future

With a compelling low carbon offering, Ian Pritchett then had to secure buy-in from the construction industry. A turning point was in February 2005 when the Kyoto Protocol came into force in the UK. This was followed by a new Code for Sustainable Homes, launched by the Government in December 2006, as a single national standard to guide industry in the design and construction of sustainable homes.

The Code has resulted in an increased interest from the building industry in sustainable building. Lime Technology has been involved in supplying lime based materials to hundreds of new building projects, including the new Channel Tunnel Rail Link Terminal at St Pancras Station, the new National Trust headquarters and the new Amnesty International office. Other groundbreaking projects which have used the company’s sustainable masonry include the new Adnams Brewery Distribution centre and several private and social housing schemes.

Contact detailsCompany: Lime Technology Address: Unit 126, Milton Park Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 4SA

Telephone: (+44) 0845 603 1143 Website: www.limetechnology.co.uk


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Next steps


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Next steps

This document marks a milestone in the low carbon international marketing journey. The journey continues with further development of the strategy, the creation of activities and joining up of resources, and with its delivery. Next steps to achieve this are outlined below.

The Low Carbon International Marketing Journey – Next steps

Next stepsSpring 2009 Proposition

Partnership

Communications – reputation building

Delivery

Learning

Low carbon proposition Core thoughts Key messages 2 sector pilots (Transport and Construction)

Supporting evidence

Case studies


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Communications – reputation building At this stage, overseas customers and inward investors may know little about the strength and range of the UK’s current low carbon offer. The aim is to build awareness and interest, raising the UK’s profile. Low carbon promotional messaging will be coordinated across the diverse range of sectors and stakeholders ensuring a consistent image of the UK’s low carbon offer is projected overseas.

A communication platform using UK branding, marketing messages, and high quality material will be designed. A number of stakeholders have been involved in an initial branding workshop. This work will continue during the next stage of strategy development. UK Trade & Investment has developed a catalogue of case studies of UK successes in low carbon and will deploy them in marketing activities.

The strategy will improve the reputation of the UK overseas, both in terms of the UK’s own internal low carbon economy, and its low carbon offer to the world. The improved reputation will offer an additional entry point to markets for UK low carbon businesses, and attract low carbon focussed investors to the UK.

The UK’s reputation should be driven at all levels across government and business, with consistent messaging used by Ministers, senior government officials, business executives and leading academics.

Partnership Members of the partnership from business and government will:

through advocacy and involvement, catalyse further –interest from UK businesses in the strategy

shape and direct the future development of the –strategy – keeping it relevant to UK business and compelling to overseas customers

work together on marketing activities in the UK –and overseas

actively promote low carbon solutions in the UK and –overseas through, for example, exhibitions, overseas missions, and seminars.

Roles will need to be clearly defined and expectations and levels of commitment agreed according to partners needs and interests.


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BESAsia – a UK educational resource exhibition based –on sustainability in Kuala Lumpur (November 2009)

Technology World - low carbon IT – UK (November 2009) –

NanoForum and Emerging Technologies Conference in the –UK (November 2009)

World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi (January 2010) –

Environment and Water low carbon mission to India –(Early 2010)

Ecobuild – a leading international low carbon built –environment conference in London (March 2010)

Ministerial visits with business to major overseas markets. –

DeliveryStrategy partners will be invited to participate in high quality marketing activities and events, and as the communications material develops, to use it to enhance their own advocacy of low carbon.

In the short term UK Trade & Investment will use the strategy’s evolving low carbon marketing messaging and material to enhance international activities planned for 2009/10 including:

Green business – transition to a low carbon economy’ –mission, exhibition and conference in Australia (March/April 2009)

Rail Seminar ‘Technology and Techniques for Sustainable –Development and Major Projects’ in Taiwan and Hong Kong (May 2009)

Major international event in the UK promoting low carbon –solutions (Autumn 2009)

Architecture seminar on sustainable buildings as part –of the Singapore Design Festival (November 2009)


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LearningGiven the dynamic nature of the business of low carbon it will be important to ensure that the strategy proposition, messaging and delivery continues to be relevant, and that efforts are focused where they will have the greatest impact.

Partners will be invited at least twice a year to help inform this ongoing review, and to take part in assessing overall performance against core objectives.

Success of specific marketing activities led by UK Trade & Investment will be measured using UK Trade & Investment’s performance measurement system which will record where UK companies have succeeded in low carbon international business. Benchmarking of the UK’s reputation (underway for other UK Trade & Investment led international marketing strategies) against competitors will also form an important part of this process.

Looking longer term, for UK Trade & Investment the aim is that delivery of support for UK business across the whole organisation will deploy the strategy at every appropriate opportunity. UK Trade & Investment will work with partners to tailor the UK proposition to particular sector needs. Pilots on Transport and Construction in Spring 2009 are the first steps towards prioritising sectors and markets where the strategy will have the greatest impact.

Low carbon presents an innovative way of thinking about and delivering business solutions in a holistic and effective way. This means thinking across the boundaries of traditional sectors. The creation of a green, sustainable city for example requires solutions from across a range of infrastructure expertise and sectors, from design and energy technologies to transport and ICT. The next stage of the low carbon marketing journey will include looking at how these can be brought together to effectively use activities to promote the UK’s strengths across a wide spectrum and gain greater business benefits.

Commitment to a low carbon future requires organisations and businesses to operate in an environmental and sustainable way. UK Trade & Investment will consider delivery options which enable activities to be undertaken in a resource efficient way; for example virtual networking and use of electronic media.


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Conclusion: Working together for a low carbon futureThe world is on the edge of a dramatic transformation that will shape the way business is undertaken, and the way people live. That transformation has become an urgent imperative, for the UK and all its trading partners. Rising to the challenges the shift to a global low carbon economy brings will not only help the UK prosper but will build a better, more secure, and more sustainable world.

The partnership brought together under this strategy will enable effective marketing on a global scale with a consistent message and one voice for the UK. There is an inspiring journey to travel; one that the UK Low Carbon International Marketing Strategy aims to navigate, and one that brings a spectrum of new opportunities in the shared pursuit of increased trade and investment in a low carbon future.


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The authors would like to thank all of the individuals and organisations who made a contribution to the journey so far, in particular those who have supplied case studies.

This document has been produced with the intention that it is viewed on screen. We encourage the viewer to consider the carbon impact of printing this document.

Acknowledgements

Whereas every effort has been made to ensure that the information given in this document is accurate, neither UK Trade & Investment nor its parent Departments (the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform, and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office) accept liability for any errors, omissions or misleading statements, and no warranty is given or responsibility accepted as to the standing of any individual, firm, company or other organisation mentioned.

Published March 2009 by UK Trade & Investment © Crown Copyright URN 09/818

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uk low carbon marketing strategy

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