We’re committed to supporting energy efficiency and renewables projects, throughThe Co-operative Bank’s loan fund, The Co-operative Enterprise Hub and our campaign for a Clean Energy Revolution in communities across the UK.
The Co-operative is among the world’s leading businesses when it comes to taking up the challenge of combating climate change.
As well as being directly involved in wind farms, solar power, and its own energy efficiency programme, which has resulted in a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 2006, it is also supporting community-scale climate change initiatives via The Co-operative Enterprise Hub.
Funding renewables
The Co-operative Bank is one of the world’s leading ethical banks and is committed to supporting businesses involved in renewable energy and efficiency.
It will do this through a £1bn fund for energy efficiency and renewables, of which £100m is dedicated to small-scale community opportunities and will support projects that provide demonstrate reductions in fuel poverty. Read about some of the community energy projects we’ve supported.
Clean Energy Revolution
We are campaigning for a Clean Energy Revolution across the UK with communities at its heart, which is inspiring people to say ‘yes’ to clean energy and ‘no’ to more and dirtier sources of fossil fuels, such as shale gas and tar sands.
The Co-operative Enterprise Hub
In addition to its existing support of free advice to help with establishing as a co-operative, The Enterprise Hub has developed two complimentary strands of support specifically for renewable energy projects, as follows:
- An expert panel that can assist and advise projects on a wide range of issues from technical to legal and financial issues.
- Creation of a fund to assist with the share offers of renewable energy projects, to be distributed through Co-operative and Community Finance.
Engagement with communities is vitally important if the UK is to meet its climate change targets and more and more groups are coming forward with renewable energy solutions in their locality.
Generating energy from renewable sources and reducing carbon emissions are activities that can bring communities together using co-operative models.
The Co-operative Enterprise Hub helps with consultancy support to set-up co-operatives, supports share offers and delivers a suite of bespoke services for co-operatively-run community renewable energy developers.
Projects around the UK have been assisted in this way, and the Enterprise Hub support is often hand-in-hand with the provision of loans from The Co-operative Bank.