Ground rules Sub-regions and the local scale are vital (think Carbon Subsidiarity) in achieving real buy-in and awareness. The Northwest Climate Fund is about energy efficiency and behavioural change as a priority and only seeks to offer a ‘payback’ for unavoidable emissions. Business buy-in is essential across all four of the key activity areas outlined in this paper. The Northwest Climate Fund will build on the successful Northwest Climate Change Charter. To succeed, the Fund has to appeal to the mass market and not target niche, committed audiences or enter into battle with the tiny minority for whom climate change is not an issue of concern.
The Fund will be formally established with the strictest of legal guidelines governing the release of charitable donations to local schemes. It will also report, transparently, on all of its operations. Vitally, this project will provide a pan-regional framework for domestic action on climate change but it will NOT duplicate or negate the efforts of local or county-wide programmes, particularly as many are proving successful. Wherever possible, each element of this ambitious project will be delivered by or will support local partners. We need to think global, talk local and save the planet, simple as that.
The Northwest Climate Fund. Concept Paper. October 2007. Page 7
Each component part of the programme will also engage comprehensively with business and large organisations, whether it be encouraging employees to pledge, helping deliver lowcarbon advice, paying into the Fund or indeed benefiting from the Northwest Climate Fund. The starting point for this engagement with business will be the Northwest’s Climate Change Charter. From the activists and partnerships across the region that are already working hard to tackle climate change, to the businesses or households that are concerned but unsure how they can help, the Northwest Climate Fund will give each and every one of us the chance to rise to the challenge of climate change.