Having been getting involved recently in Green IT I was amazed to discover how little awareness there is of the Government’s new Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) which is a mandatory emissions trading scheme being introduced from April 2010 under which companies will have to purchase ‘allowances’ from the Government to offset their CO2 emissions.

The more CO2 an organisation emits, the more ‘allowances’ it has to purchase.  Making a direct incentive for organisations to reduce emissions by increasing energy efficiency.  In addition, organisations will appear on a league table showing their comparative performance and will receive revenue back from the Government from the that raised by selling ‘allowances’ in proportion to their position on the table.  If this league table is made public then I envisage many image concious high-street brands will be competing vigorously for position.

Government estimates indicate that around 20,000 public and private sector organisations will be required to participate in CRC in some way.  Around 5,000 organisations will be required to record and monitor their CO2 emissions and purchase allowances equivalent to their emissions each year. The rest will be required to tell the administrator about their electricity usage.

Qualification for CRC is based on half hourly electricity consumption during the qualification period. For the introductory phase, this is the 2008 calendar year.  An organisation qualifies as a full participant in CRC if, during the qualification period, it had at least one half hourly meter (HHM) settled on the half hourly market, and its annual electricity consumption through all HHMs was at least 6,000 MWh.

Looking forward to some potential changes and affects that may arise:

1. New initiatives no longer being judged on ROI but having an added criteria of “Impact on CO2 footprint”
2. A secondary trading market arising around the ‘allowances’
3. As over 10% of a typical electrcity bill results from ICT - a raft of specific CO2 based ICT initiatives
4. Smart(er) buildings – more insulation and recycling to reduce energy consumption
5. Smart(er) working practices – switch-off policies, minimal printing

© Marcus Page for Execellence, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Change, Stories

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The Tribes we lead

© Helen Pybus for Execellence, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Change, Stories

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1.  Do dramatic story-worthy things that represent the culture we want to create. Then let other people tell stories about it.

2.  Find other people who do story-worthy things that represent the culture we want to create. Then tell stories about them” (Bregman, HBR 25 June 09).

I love the concept of storytelling to change behaviour & have seen first-hand how peer pressure can change pea haters into pea lovers… But to me, it makes more sense to time the implementation of the tangible elements that would re-inforce the desired culture (e.g. reward systems) to co-incide with the communication of the stories?    Whereas the article suggests not to change anything else (at first) & harness the tension created?  How so?  Can you use “the disconnect between the new stories and the entrenched systems promoting the old culture” to drive employee ownership of the new systems?  Read Bregman’s “A Good Way to Change a Corporate Culture” and let me know what you think…

© Helen Pybus for Execellence, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Change, Corporate Culture, Culture, culture change, Stories

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