Fund’s focus is reducing carbon

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Environmental initiatives in the North West are set to benefit from the introduction of a £4m-plus climate fund aimed at providing financing for local carbon emission-reducing projects.

The fund, due to be launched at the end of March by local environmental charity Groundwork, has received £1.6m of funding from the Northwest Regional Development Agency and over the next three years must raise at least an additional £3m from other sources.

The aim is for it to be self-sufficient at the end of this period.

“We will be talking to anyone and everyone from individual investors through to local public and private businesses,” said Philip Monaghan, the fund’s interim chief officer, admitting that now is not the best time to be seeking to raise new funds. As a result, he said the fund can start investing the NWDA’s initial contribution immediately and add to the total pot over the following three years.

Tackling the effects

“It’s about tackling the effects of climate change and using the funds to invest in projects that would otherwise not succeed,” said Monaghan.

Groundwork is currently advertising three senior jobs for people to run the fund: a projects manager and a development manager on £35,000 to £40,000 per annum and a chief officer on £42,000 to £50,000 per annum.

Once the fund is established, businesses throughout the North West will be able to apply for money to support environmentally-friendly projects, ranging from renewable energy schemes through to programmes aimed at controlling the spread of peat bogs. Where possible, they should also seek to support local jobs and development.

According to a survey carried out prior to the fund’s launch, there is market appetite from businesses and the public for supporting local carbon reduction schemes.

In addition, the survey found that there is a strong available supply of local projects, particularly in energy efficiency and renewables, which the fund could begin supporting from day one and which could offer measurable carbon reductions which would otherwise not be achieved through other local authority or private sector climate change programmes.