The Content Coms Guide: New 25-in-5 initiative promises to reduce CO2 emissions in retail sector by 25%

At Content Coms, we like to stay on top of all the latest energy news, bringing you helpful guides to the most recent developments in the industry. Here, we look at the newest energy initiative from the British Retail Consortium.

The new 25-in-5 initiative launched by the British Retail Consortium aims to help the retail sector make a 25% reduction on its CO2 emissions by 2020. Rocketing energy costs, a reduction in energy infrastructure investment and a ‘complex and inaccessible’ policy landscape are some of the factors which have inspired the new initiative – but what will it mean for the sector?

What will the 25-in-5 initiative achieve?

The new initiative has been set out to dramatically reduce carbon emissions, energy consumption and transport emissions from the retail sector over the next five years.

According to the BRC’s own analysis, an estimated £4.4bn in energy costs is set to hit the sector by 2020. The new initiative has been put in place to offset this cost and provide a solid basis for increased investment in energy efficient technologies over the next few years.

Why is it needed?

Besides the huge increase in the cost of energy, the BRC have introduced the initiative as a way to cut through confusion in the energy policy landscape and increase confidence in the benefits of energy-efficient measures. According to the BRC, scepticism surrounding the merits of energy efficiency persists across the sector, fuelled by a series of complicated and overlapping energy policies.

Although the sector has made great strides already in reducing their energy usage (CO2 emissions from retail stores were reduced by around a third between 2005 and 2012 under the BRC’s A Better Retailing Climate initiative), the BRC now believes that more can be done. Many retail organisations lack the information and skills needed to increase energy efficiency in their businesses and the new initiative aims to combat this through several supportive measures.

What will the initiative involve?

As part of the 25-in-5 initiative, the BRC will

–    Provide advice and support on energy efficiency in retail through an online energy hub
–    Help retail organisations to manage their energy consumption and costs through toolkits and guidance from leading retailers in energy efficiency
–    Provide a series of cases studies which demonstrate successful, low-cost energy solutions in retail organisations
–    Highlight key energy-efficient technologies which can help to reduce energy consumption and protect against rising energy costs

With 20% of all CO2 emissions from UK businesses in 2013 arising from the retail sector, the new initiative is likely to have a significant impact on wider Government climate targets. Following on from the existing efforts of the sector in reducing emissions, the new initiative is set to provide a valuable case for taking retail energy efficiency to the next stage.

Content Coms is one of the UK’s leading B2B communications consultancies specialising in the energy, low carbon and technology sectors. If you’ve enjoyed our article, how about reading more of our energy news and analysis?