The overall goal of COP26 is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to keep the global temperature from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius due to climate change.
The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, is the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference. It is scheduled to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, between 31 October and 12 November 2021.
Although a lot of the measures that will be taken and discussed during COP26 are things that you can not directly impact yourself, there are still many steps companies and individuals can take to help tip the energy crisis in humanities favour.
At Direct Savings, we align ourselves with Net Zero both by taking steps in our day to day operations to reduce our carbon footprint as well as providing energy-saving measures to households all over the UK.
We urge other office based business to consider smalls steps to improve their energy efficiency - lots of people making small steps can mean a huge difference! When considering energy saving in the office we looked at
- Energy consumption - Lighting - Heating - Ventilation and air conditioning - Office equipment - Building fabric - Good housekeeping and people solutions
Some of the above factors can be considered in the household as well as the office, some additional steps you can take at home could be:
Switch to renewable energy sources - this might be as simple as switching to a green tariff.
Invest in energy efficiency measures (such as improving building insulation, choosing low energy appliances and processes).
Invest in low (or zero) emission heat and energy (such as replacing an old inefficient boiler with a new, A rated, boiler).
Make use of Zero Waste Scotland’s guidance on funding, business support and case studies.
Another huge factor that we value at Direct Savings, but isn't considered the over all goal of COP26, is fuel poverty. Obviously these two things go hand in hand, reducing carbon footprints = using less energy = saving more money.
It’s vital that we cut emissions from Scotland’s homes in a way that helps end fuel poverty for those households that struggle to heat their home. Scotland is one of the few countries to define fuel poverty, let alone set a challenging goal to reduce it. The Scottish Government Fuel Poverty Strategy sets out how they intend to drive progress to meet our ambitious targets that by 2040 no more than 5% of households in Scotland are fuel poor and no more than 1% are in extreme fuel poverty.
There is also funding for local councils to deliver energy efficiency improvements in areas with high levels of fuel poverty and the least energy efficient housing. Since 2013, there has been £473 million available to local authorities which has helped deliver energy efficient improvements to around 87,000 households across Scotland. The national Warmer Homes Scotland scheme was launched in September 2015 and since then has helped over 20,000 fuel poor households across Scotland with the installation of heating and insulation measures. By taking action and improving the energy efficiency of your home - through replacing old inefficient boilers or improving insulation through government grants, together we’ll reach our target of net zero by 2045 AND help end fuel poverty at the same time.
We are doing our bit for climate change and we need our community to do the same, we can help in many ways. All you need to do is get in touch! With grants and funding available to improve your home and tackle climate change, you may be missing out on something you are entitled to.
www.directsavings.org.uk/contact-us