The Zero Carbon Tour is visiting towns and cities across the UK promoting how businesses can embrace sustainability and a greener future.
OxLEP today (7 September) welcomes a nationwide tour to the county that aims to highlight the role businesses can play in driving forward a cleaner, more sustainable future in the lead-up to COP26 later this year.
The Zero Carbon Tour – which is being led by the Planet Mark organisation – aims to share a ‘net-zero carbon message’ to communities across the UK in support of the UN-backed ‘Race to Zero’ campaign.
The campaign is committed to halving global carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest.
During its visit, the tour will highlight to the UK business community how they can create their own credible net-zero carbon targets in-line with the Race to Zero’s own minimum criteria, as well as implementing practical steps and plans to achieve them.
Ahead of a stop-off at Rose Hill Community Centre, the tour earlier today called by at the Eco Business Centre at Elmsbrook, North West Bicester (pictured above) – the UK’s first non-domestic building that has achieved Passivhaus Plus status, a rigorous standard for energy efficiency, developed by the Passivhaus Institute in Germany.
OxLEP played a major role in bringing this stand-out business eco-space to fruition, securing funding for the building and also – through its Innovation Support for Business programme – helping to provide greener co-working spaces for entrepreneurs.
The Zero Carbon Tour also comes just weeks after the launch of the ‘Pathways to Zero Carbon Oxfordshire’ report.
The report – created by the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute, alongside leading sustainability organisation Bioregional and backed by OxLEP – has itself highlighted several pathways for the county to achieve a zero-carbon economy by 2050.
Nigel Tipple – Chief Executive of OxLEP – said: “We are delighted to welcome the Zero Carbon Tour to Oxfordshire, particularly at a location like the Eco Business Centre – which OxLEP has had the great pleasure in helping to secure for the county – which boasts significant international-standard green credentials.
“In Oxfordshire, our immense energy expertise is being applied to exploring the boundaries of future energy systems. For example, we are at the centre of all things nuclear fusion – led by the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy – a form of energy that offers the world an abundant and replenishable source of energy within our lifetimes.
“In addition to this, two UK energy system demonstrators – the Energy Superhub Oxford and Project LEO – an ambitious smart grid trial, are based in the county and it’s this expertise and capability that we continue to highlight widely.
“Away from this, it’s just as important to inspire our business community to not only understand the climate emergency challenge, but also the role that they can play and the practical steps they can take in embracing a zero-carbon future.
“The tour provides timely, practical actions for the county’s businesses ahead of COP26 later this year.”
Find out more details on the Zero Carbon Tour
Find out more details on the support available to Oxfordshire businesses via OxLEP Business
