A scheme originally launched to help the public sector in Cornwall buy low carbon goods and services is being rolled out across the country.
Convergence-funded Clear about Carbon is delivered by a partnership between Cornwall Council, Cornwall Development Company, University of Exeter, Duchy College and the Eden Project. The project is all about embedding low carbon skills with public sector procurement and in private sector supply chains.
One output of the project, a one day course – Carbon Literacy for Procurers – has now been integrated into a national DEFRA programme with 19 accredited trainers across the UK. This course has now been adapted into an e-learning programme which will be launched later this summer.
David Morgan, project officer for Clear about Carbon, said: “There are very few projects like this that have been nationally mainstreamed, so Cornwall is really leading the way in this field.”
Carleen Kelemen, director of the Convergence Partnership Office for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, added: “Environmental sustainability is an integral part of the drive to strengthen the economy of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. By becoming savvier about issues such as procurement, businesses can not only save themselves money and time but can lower their greenhouse gas emissions.”
The e-learning course includes modules on climate change; the greenhouse effect; legislation and regulation; renewable and low carbon energy sources; carbon accounting for organisations and projects; product footprinting and low carbon procurement.
