Building a ‘low carbon, high growth’ economy is one of the UK’s top priorities.  We believe it is important to set an example in the way we work.  Led by the Embassy’s Sustainable Operations Team, all staff have been working hard to reduce our impact on the environment and carbon footprint.

We want to reduce our carbon emissions by 12.5% by April 2009.  Here are some of the examples of activities we have been doing to achieve this:

Working out our carbon footprint. In order to understand our impact was and know where to devote most attention on reductions, we had a formal assessment on our carbon footprint.  Our emissions were 53 t CO2e in 2005/6 and 62 t CO2e in 2006/7. This is not a lot in absolute terms.  At EUR22 a ton of CO2, it would cost just EUR1, 364 to offset the emissions and be legitimately carbon-free.  However, our assessment is that the Embassy is inefficient.  ‘Typical practice’ indicates emissions should be around 50 t CO2e whilst best practice suggests a figure of 36 t CO2e.

Vegetable garden  It all started with an idea from a member of staff that has lived for too long in inner-city apartments and wanted to make better use of the Embassy garden.  One short form later, Cash for Change had provided the necessary funds and we were ready to plant.

Saving energy is the main focus of our activities, and our best chance to reduce our carbon footprint.  We have done this through an awareness campaigns for staff to work efficiently and turn of machines not in use and a significant reduction in time the central heating and cooling system is active.

More efficient travelling is an important way of saving energy (fuel consumption) and reducing our carbon emissions.  The Embassy recently replaced a fuel inefficient car with a Toyota hybrid.  We ensure that the most efficient Embassy vehicles are the ones that are used first.  Though we try to reduce the amount of flying we do (for example through using video conferences) there is a certain amount of unavoidable air travel.  Therefore we offset the carbon of all flights.

Renewable energy. We want to make use of renewable technology at the Ambassador’s residence in order to make a cost effective reduction to our energy bills and showcase some of the leading British technologies in this area.  We are currently evaluating a number of exciting proposals for solar and photovoltaic solutions.

Offsetting. Our priority is always to reduce our emissions, but we recognise the value in offsetting the carbon for essential high profile events, such as the annual Queens Birthday party.  The credits go towards clean development projects in the developing world.

Recycling. We used to only recycle paper.  Now we recycle everything: glass, plastics, metals, ink cartridges, toners, empty café sachets.

Raising awareness and knowledge. We think it is important for our staff to be knowledgeable and motivated.  We have a programme of activities around the theme of climate change to encourage staff participation in the project.  We have watched Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, debated with Stern Team economist. We are in the process of turning part of the Embassy garden into an allotment producing food in a sustainable way for consumption by the club. Planned future activities including a regular ‘green day’.

But making a difference has required more than just a few isolated activities.  It has involved changing the way we think and work.  Now, the environmental implications of any business decision are taken into account in the same way that security and financial implications are.  We source our goods from environmentally sound sources wherever possible and ensure that building works contribute to a more efficient building.