UK Low Carbon Marketing Strategy

UK LOW CARBON INTERNATIONAL MARKETING STRATEGY
SPRING 2009: THE JOURNEY SO FAR

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MARKETING STRATEGY
Foreword
Introduction
The need for a marketing strategy
- Why now?
The strategy
- Objective
- Audience
The marketing journey
The low carbon economy –
market opportunities and drivers
Positioning the UK
The proposition
The proposition in action:
case studies
Next steps
- Partnership
- Communications
- Delivery
- Learning
Conclusion
Working together for
a low carbon future
Acknowledgements
Contents

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Foreword
The international momentum on tackling climate change is
building fast. Lord Stern’s landmark Review in 2006 warned
that failure to stop greenhouse gases rising to dangerous
levels would lead to damage estimated at costing as much
as 20% of global GDP. Recent evidence has shown that
this change is happening faster than previously thought.
Coupled with the volatility of fossil fuel prices and concerns
over energy security, the economic costs of doing nothing to
address climate change are considerable. The environmental
costs are unsustainable. There is no high carbon future.
For this reason, the European Union has already adopted
ambitious targets for the shift to low carbon. The successful
outcome the Government wants to see at the UN Conference
on Climate Change in Copenhagen at the end of 2009 would
only increase this international momentum. A number of
countries have also placed climate change investment at the
heart of recently announced economic stimulus measures.
This massive shift represents a major opportunity for UK
businesses. The UK is already a world leader in low carbon
goods and services and home to a diverse range of world-
leading low carbon businesses and organisations. These
companies are at the leading-edge of the transition to low
carbon, and are already making the emerging low carbon
economy work for them. The ambition is to expand their
number and their international strength.
This global marketing strategy is aligned with the
government’s Low Carbon Industrial Strategy, which aims to
make the UK the best place in the world to build low carbon
businesses, and to equip those businesses to compete in the
global market for low carbon goods and services.
The goal is to bring together business, government, academia,
professional and other organisations to work together to
market the UK and make the most of the opportunities that
will come with the global transition to a low carbon world.
The Rt Hon Lord Mandelson
Secretary of State for Business,
Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
The Rt Hon David Miliband MP
Secretary of State for Foreign
and Commonwealth Affairs

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Introduction
The UK Trade Investment five year strategy ’Prosperity in
a changing world’ recommended the creation of coherent
marketing strategies1
to promote UK strengths in an
increasingly competitive world. Against the backdrop of the
global economic downturn this is more important than ever.
It is also essential that the UK positions the most innovative
parts of the economy for recovery and long term growth.
The new Low Carbon International Marketing Strategy
seeks to do that along one of the most strategically important
axes of the economy, the journey towards a sustainable and
decarbonised world. It will set out a clear direction
and journey that will help focus collective efforts and
achieve shared goals. Joined up marketing will improve the
targeting and co-ordination of marketing activities.
The UK Low Carbon International Marketing Strategy will
reach across all sectors and across a diverse range of
businesses and organisations. Businesses, academia and
government working together to develop a common approach
and a single voice will achieve greater impact for the UK.
The strategy has the aim of promoting positive perceptions
about the UK’s ambition to be a global hub for low carbon
solutions and use this as the platform to develop new
business internationally.
The transition to a low carbon, resource efficient economy is
a global environmental and economic imperative. There is no
high carbon future. The transition represents a huge economic
opportunity for the UK internationally. Success will depend
on the UK’s ability to position itself as providing thought,
technological and commercial leadership in new markets
which will emerge.
The Government has a vision of the UK at the heart of the
multi-trillion pound market the global low carbon economy
will create; where UK businesses are designing, producing,
marketing and deploying the goods and services that will
shape a low carbon world; where the UK is seen as a global
hub for low carbon solutions and the sustainable prosperity
the world must move to.
To provide the right framework in the UK for businesses to
thrive in a low carbon economy, and to equip them to compete
for low carbon business domestically and internationally
the Government has committed to a Low Carbon Industrial
Strategy. Many UK businesses are already placing low carbon
at the heart of their products, services and supply chains and
developing low carbon expertise which is in demand across
the globe.
1
UK sector-specific international marketing strategies have been developed
in Financial Services, Creative Industries, Life Sciences, ICT, Energy and
Advanced Engineering.
“It is clear that businesses that succeed
in the 21st century will be those that
seize the opportunity to adapt to a
low carbon future.” CBI
“Tackling climate change could
create opportunities for a company
to increase its value by up to 80% if
it is well positioned and proactive.”
Tom Delay, Carbon Trust

UK LOW CARBON INTERNATIONAL
MARKETING STRATEGY
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The need for a marketing strategy
To build its reputation and develop competitive advantage
the UK needs to market a compelling low carbon offer now.
As well as positioning to take advantage of immediate
business opportunities the UK will need to demonstrate
that it has the dynamism, flexibility and the innovation and
creative strengths for tomorrow’s opportunities which will
increase as the take-up and pace of countries transitioning
to a low carbon economy accelerates. The UK Low Carbon
International Marketing Strategy will drive forward these
ambitions through a partnership of government and business
led by UK Trade Investment.
Why now?
The international momentum towards a low carbon global
economy is building fast. The UN Conference on Climate
Change in Copenhagen at the end of 2009, will have a major
impact on global market demand for low carbon solutions.
President Obama’s recent economic stimulus package has
invigorated the US’s low carbon role and produced the
possibility not only of a growing US market but of a potential
competitive low carbon leader on the world stage. A review
of 15 economic stimulus plans by HSBC found some other
countries apportioning significant investment in low carbon
recovery, for example 34% of China’s and 69%
of South Korea’s plans are expected to be low carbon.1
1
(Source: HSBC Climate Change Global Renewable Energy
19 January 2009).
“The shift to low carbon in the UK,
and around the world is now largely
inevitable. What is not inevitable is
that Britain benefits industrially from
the transition. We want to mobilise
every bit of expertise and ingenuity that
Britain has to offer.
“Moving to a low carbon economy is
the way to secure the economic
recovery and growth we need at home
and take a lead internationally to
protect the future of the planet.”
Ed Miliband – 6 March 2009
“… In San Francisco there is something about climate
change on every street corner.” Industry stakeholder
“… Australia has fundamentally changed –
public awareness has gone from zero to very high
in 12 months.” Industry stakeholder
The UK has consistently shown international leadership
towards a low carbon future. The landmark Stern Review
on the Economics of Climate Change gave a new sense of
urgency – and, importantly, a clear commercial imperative
to reducing carbon emissions so that the issue moved up the
agenda of boardrooms, governments and consumers across
the world. Commissioned by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown
(then Chancellor) in 2005, this Review became internationally
acclaimed for its groundbreaking thought leadership after its
publication in 2006.
UK leadership in a low carbon future has been evident far
beyond this groundbreaking work by Lord Stern.
“We have extremely good thought leadership from
Institutions like the Carbon Trust and the Hadley Centre.”
UK Industry Stakeholder

MARKETING STRATEGY
6/39The need for a marketing strategy
Through the Climate Change Act, the UK has become the
first country in the world to adopt a legally binding target to
reduce carbon emissions – by at least 26% by 2020 and by
80% by 2050, against a 1990 baseline. This 2050 target will
be driven by a series of five year carbon budgets, which will
require businesses across every sector to lower their carbon
emissions, driving UK companies to the forefront of the
development of low carbon solutions and contributing to
their competitiveness in the global market.
This UK leadership is reaching into the heart of economic
activity with the development of knowledge, skills and
technologies and by providing advice on policy, redesigning
products, services and the living environment, re-engineering
processes and spearheading continuous innovation.
The Stern Review in 2006 estimated that the market for new
low carbon energy products could be US$500 billion by 2050.
Only three years later estimates place the overall added
value in the low carbon energy industry alone at
US$3 trillion by 2050. No country can ignore the scale of
change and opportunity. The case for a new activism to
develop low carbon business internationally, which the
UK Low Carbon International Marketing Strategy represents,
is overwhelming.
– 2007/8 global market value of the Low Carbon
Environment Goods and Services (LCEGS) sector2
was £3,046 billion
– It is estimated that overall the global LCEGS
sector grew by approximately 4% in 2007/8
– UK has 3.5% of global market share
– China is the largest export market for the UK
with 12.06% of overall export total in 2007/8
– In 2007/8 exports accounted for just under
10% of sales (£10.5 billion)
– In 2007 the UK attracted 30% of all European
venture capital investment in clean technology
Source: Innovas Report published March 2009
With exports currently only 10% of sales, there
is a real opportunity for the UK to increase its
global market share from 3.5%.
2
The Low Carbon Environmental Goods and Services sector in this context refers
to the environmental and renewable energy sectors and to emerging low carbon
activities such as alternative fuels, building technologies, nuclear power and
carbon finance. Low carbon has wider relevance – it affects the whole economy.
The strategy has been developed with the whole economy in mind.
“Our starting point for working
internationally is, does it help deliver on
our mission and deliver value to the UK.
We have found a strong appetite in a
range of countries including China, USA,
and Qatar for the expertise we have
developed in accelerating the move to a
low carbon economy.”
Tom Delay, Carbon Trust
“...the task we face is to win a very big
share for Britain of a fast expanding
global market for low carbon goods
and services.”
Gordon Brown, Prime Minister

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The strategy
Objective
The overall objective of the strategy is for the UK to speak
with a single compelling voice across the world, positioning
the UK as a leader in low carbon solutions and as such, the
destination of choice for low carbon trade and investment,
which in turn will lead to the creation of jobs and wealth.
This will be achieved by:
A strong partnership:–– business and Government travelling
together on a low carbon international marketing journey
The UK’s unique and special offer:–– effectively captured
and articulated to trade and investment partners throughout
the world
Building reputation:–– awareness raising of the UK as a low
carbon leader
Delivery:–– customer focused activities in the UK and
overseas to promote trade and investment
Learning:–– sharing knowledge, insights and best practice.
Audience
Who is the strategy aimed at?
UK companies and organisations to join in the––
marketing partnership and promote their low carbon
solutions
Customers defined as end purchasers:––
Current and potential buyers of UK goods and services––
(who may be small, medium or large businesses,
organisations and institutions such as Higher Education
Institutions, and overseas Governments)
International investors (who may already be involved in––
the UK)
Governments, regulators, opinion formers and the––
press in overseas markets

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MARKETING STRATEGY

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The Low Carbon International Marketing journey started in Autumn
2008 with initial research and stakeholder engagement. This
document represents that thinking; it outlines a UK marketing
proposition, gives an overview of key UK capabilities and strengths
spanning different sectors, and a generic account of the main
international requirements for low carbon solutions.
The Low Carbon International Marketing Journey –
The initial stage
Autumn 2008
Input sources
Over 100 stakeholders
e.g. manufacturers
professional services and
universities
Desk research. Approximately
200 documents: industry insight,
academic research, government
strategies and reports
Engagement across government
Spring 2009
Proposition
Spring 2009
Proposition
Low carbon proposition
Core thoughts
Key messages
2 sector pilots (Transport and
Construction)
Supporting evidence
Case studies
Insights
International
demand factors
UK strengths
Current UK offer
Competitor offers

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10/39The marketing journey
The Spring 2009 milestone in the journey includes the
gathering together of a number of stakeholders as early
partners and the start of two strategy pilots at sectoral level.
The next stage of the journey is to establish partnerships
with others who want to join in the implementation of the UK
Low Carbon International Marketing Strategy. Partners will
be invited to contribute their thinking to the approach that is
being developed, and to join in and benefit from the collective
UK marketing effort that will result in increased trade and
investment. On the basis of the marketing platform described
here, UK Trade Investment will work with the partners and
others to develop more detailed marketing propositions in a
range of sectors.
Low Carbon Economy
Drawing on market research, the strategy is based on
the concept of a low carbon economy as one where
all products and services, right through the supply
chain, embrace low carbon. This provides the greatest
potential competitive advantage for the UK and offers
the most opportunities for UK businesses.
‘Low carbon’ is a way of thinking, behaving, and
operating that minimises carbon emissions (and
equivalents) whilst enabling sustainable use of natural
resources, economic growth, and growth in quality of
life. The term as used here encompasses the process
of transitioning to and operating within a resource
efficient and environmentally sustainable economy. At
its heart is the way energy is generated, transported
and consumed across the entire economy. It is also a
term that has been adopted by many companies and
organisations and impacts at the heart of economic
and environmental opportunity.

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The scale of the journey towards a low carbon economy
is often described as an economic and social revolution,
affecting all sectors and levels of the economy and requiring
partnership across public and private organisations.
The journey places low carbon at the heart of the economy,
providing economic, environmental and social benefits:
Economic: access to new markets and technologies; improved
cost and energy efficiency; secure access to energy and
resistance to fluctuations in fossil fuel prices; preserving the
value of “free” ecosystem services such as natural water
purification, soil formation and nutrient recycling; managing
reputation and regulatory compliance; job and wealth creation;
Environmental: reduced emissions of carbon dioxide and
other greenhouse gases such as methane, nitrous oxide and
hydrofluorocarbons; minimisation of local environmental
damage from pollution and resource extraction; drive towards
sustainability at a broader level;
Social: mitigating the negative impacts on food security,
extreme weather events, disease outbreaks, freshwater
availability and rising sea levels; creating a sustained and
sustainable growth in quality of life; improved public health
through reduced pollution; preservation of natural assets and
biodiversity for future generations.
Research has indicated that governments and businesses
will have different starting points, and follow individual paths
on the journey towards a low carbon economy. Each step on
the journey creates opportunities for trade and investment,
whether a market has reached the advanced stage of low
carbon as business as usual or embarked on initial recognition
and scoping of the issues. The journey will be driven by both
obligation (regulation) and opportunity (business growth and
cost saving). The emphasis across the three groups of benefits
will differ across international audiences and messages for
each market need to be tailored appropriately.
Although each market must be treated separately, three
generic customer needs can be identified that a successful
UK marketing campaign will address:
Prosperity:–– decoupling carbon emissions from economic
growth. As well as carbon reduction, products and services
will need to deliver economic and social benefits (increasing
energy and process efficiency and designing out waste).
Leadership:–– thought, technology and action leadership
to act as a sign post and catalyst for transformation.
Innovation:–– products and services that bring new
opportunities and more effective ways of operating
in a low carbon economy.
The low carbon economy –
marketing opportunities and drivers

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Positioning the UK
MARKETING STRATEGY

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The UK’s strengths and assets can be clustered into six
common themes. These themes enable the UK’s strengths and
assets to be presented in a compelling manner internationally.
Partnership: effective collaboration across government,
business and academia at national and local levels
Systemic: a truly holistic approach to taking carbon out of
the whole supply and value chain
Influential: understanding how to communicate and drive
change across government, industry and society to deliver
benefits over the short and longer terms
Breadth: understanding the need for a pluralist approach,
i.e. for wide range of technologies, systems and ideas to
deliver a low carbon future
Commercial: deriving commercial value from new low
carbon services (e.g. carbon footprinting) and technologies
Innovative: entrepreneurial and academic
excellence combined
Although many of these themes are not unique to the UK,
taken in aggregate and presented as a coherent whole they
are the basis of a proposition which differentiates the UK
from other countries. The individual strengths under each
theme will also enable the UK to develop strong leadership
and competitive advantage going forwards where that may
not exist now.
UK low carbon
proposition
Partnership
Breadth
Influential
Innovative
Commercial
Systemic
Positioning the UK

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The proposition
Vision
The future global economy is the whole economy
through a low carbon lens
It penetrates all sectors, interactions and transactions. It is
therefore everybody’s business and everybody’s opportunity.
Benefits are short and long term, big and small. From the
incremental carbon reduction and cost savings of home
insulation to the long term shifts in patterns of living and
doing business that will bring environmental, economic and
social benefits for all.
Offer
The UK offers the knowledge, technology and
experience to bring about incremental and sizeable
reductions in carbon emissions – a low carbon
consultancy on a big scale.
With a progressive business and policy environment that
fosters carbon reduction, the UK is designing and developing
the solutions that will increasingly prove valuable to
international partners looking to reduce their own emissions.
The core proposition for the UK has been developed based
on two key foundations:
A–– vision for the global low carbon economy of the future
A summary of the UK’s–– offer to the world based on
current strengths
Proposition
The UK is taking low carbon to the heart
of the economy.
The UK is showing the world how to create a thriving
low carbon economy, aligning commercial needs with
social and environmental responsibilities by placing
carbon management in the economic mainstream.

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15/39The proposition
Overarching strengths
A good business environment
and trading partner:
Low carbon transition
The ability to make
change happen:
Carbon reduction capabilities
Solutions that minimise
carbon production:
Carbon measurement
and management
Marine, offshore wind and CCS
Sustainable buildings
Carbon trading
Transport
Research and innovation
Innovative financial services and
access to finance
Standard setting
Professional services
High-value manufacture
and engineering
Communications and media
Training
Committed government
Top universities and
research institutes
Strong institutions
Natural resources
Progressive corporates
Receptive consumers
Skilled workforce
The UK’s low carbon offer
Diverse strengths from the traditional to the truly innovative
The benefits of the UK’s offer can be captured as:
Trade: Progressive UK firms bring a systemic approach
and focused expertise to low carbon solutions,
delivering effective products and services for
carbon reduction. The breadth of UK thought leadership,
innovation and technology means that solutions can be
developed and deployed to approach carbon reduction
from multiple perspectives.
Inward investor: We are making the UK the best
place in the world to develop and grow a low carbon
business. The UK is the ideal test-bed for innovation
and commercialisation, combining an enabling business
climate and research excellence, with the opportunities
offered by receptive consumers and advantageous
natural resources. This environment supports the
exploration of diverse solutions and the development of
globally scalable standards.

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Proposition in action:
case studies
MARKETING STRATEGY

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The proposition in action: case studies
There are many powerful and compelling examples
of UK organisations taking low carbon to the heart of
the economy. These case studies that demonstrate the
potential and advantage of the UK offer for
overseas partners.
The figure on the right illustrates some organisations
that are bringing the UK proposition to life across the
six supporting themes and included in this document
are a selection of these case studies – the full and
growing complement is featured on
www.ukti-lowcarboneconomy.org
Arup
BSI
BT
Carbon Trust
Eversheds
Fujitsu
HSBC
Imperial
College
London
Lime
Technology
Lotus
Norton Rose
Tesco
ZEDfactory
UK low carbon
proposition
Partnership
Breadth
Influential
Innovative
Commercial
Systemic

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Global consulting
Companies and governments
around the world are consulting
Arup, a global firm headquartered
in the UK, to develop their energy
strategies and help reduce
carbon emissions.
Arup is a global firm of designers, engineers, planners and
business consultants, headquartered in the UK. The firm
exerts a significant influence on the built environment and is
the creative force behind many of the world’s most innovative
and sustainable building, transport and civil engineering
projects. Aware that current trends in consumption and
resource use are unsustainable, the firm sees itself as a
visionary, paving the way in sustainability, with low carbon
solutions integral to the different areas of its work.
“Many of our clients are global leaders that want to
demonstrate their own commitment to global issues,” says
Neil Grange, Sustainability Consultant at Arup. “They come to
us because they know we do that type of work well. Our staff
around the world work in collaboration to develop leading
carbon services, with our UK offices playing a major role.”

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19/39Case studies: Arup
Strategy studies such as this pave the way for informed
policy making and the development of implementation plans.
Crucially, this and other projects we have worked on, such
as DeCode for the Carbon Trust, are innovative UK projects,
but their methodology is highly transferable to other parts
of the world.”
Tailoring solutions
Arup’s wealth of experience in energy strategy development
and carbon emissions modelling also led to an appointment by
Nakheel, a real estate development company based in Dubai,
to carry out a low carbon strategy for the Dubai Waterfront.
The Waterfront is a 120km2
mixed-use development under
construction on the border of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and will
have a population estimated at 1.5 million people by 2020.
Recognising the need for the future city to be at the forefront
of sustainability practices, the strategy initially focussed on
innovative energy practices that would maximise efficiency.
The strategy considered three related aspects of energy:
reducing demand to the maximum extent possible, increasing
the efficiency of supply, and maximising the proportion of
renewable energy supply. This approach was applied to three
major aspects of the design: buildings, infrastructure and
transport, with a strong emphasis on the interrelationships
between water, waste, urban planning, transport and logistics.
Cutting carbon
Arup’s feasibility study to examine ways in which the
Thames Gateway could be made a low carbon development
area was published by Communities and Local Government
(CLG) in 2008. The study was guided by the new Climate
Change Act requirement for an 80 per cent reduction in
emissions from 1990 levels by 2050 and developed a best
practice methodology for establishing the combined impact
of carbon reduction scenarios over the timeframe to 2050.
It showed that the demand for energy in buildings,
particularly existing stock, was likely to account for a
substantial proportion of total emissions, and identified
seven key measures to achieve the desired reduction, that
broadly speaking included zero carbon design for new
buildings and retrofit of existing buildings, switching to
renewable energy sources and community energy systems.
“Mitigating carbon emissions has to be a priority issue,”
says Neil Grange. “In essence, the Thames Gateway study
demonstrated that the projected growth in the area and
an absolute reduction in emissions of 80 per cent are
theoretically possible.

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Leading the way
More recently, Arup’s energy and carbon management
sustainability experts have been in talks about opportunities
in Canada and Abu Dhabi where similar methodologies
could be applied. The firm welcomes UK Trade Investment
working in partnership to develop a UK International Low
Carbon Marketing Strategy.
“Any initiative facilitated by the Government in this arena is
useful and commendable,” says Neil Grange. “Around the
world, the UK is regarded as a leader in innovation and energy
efficiency solutions and we need to maintain this lead. Arup is
proud to be a leading UK company, and we have established
a global brand and reputation which both reflects and helps to
build this world view of the UK.”
“To achieve this ambitious project, we placed an
implementation team on site, working alongside our
client’s team to explain the implications of the low carbon
strategies,” says Neil Grange. “Our team developed a suite
of Implementation Guideline documents covering buildings,
waste, urban planning and logistics, and reviewed the plans
and designs for individual phases and buildings to monitor
compliance with the low carbon strategies and guidelines.
Such projects demonstrate Arup’s capability to provide
pioneering solutions that are relevant in unique geographical
contexts, bearing in mind that the Middle East has different
opportunities and constraints to the UK.”
Contact details
Company: Arup
Address: 13 Fitzroy Street
London W1T 4BQ
Telephone: (+44) 020 7636 1531
Website: www.arup.com

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Achieving sustainable standards
The UK’s national standards
body, BSI, is at the forefront of
developing standards that promote
sustainability in business around
the world.
BSI British Standards, a division of the BSI Group, creates
standards that promote best practice. Today, there are 31,000
live standards, covering everything from risk management to
zoom lenses. They help to create efficiencies in organisations,
and support innovation and inter-operability.
BSI takes both a proactive and reactive approach in deciding
which areas its standards should cover. It runs 1,278 technical
committees comprised of experts from government, academia,
business and consumers groups which help to identify
economic and social trends that establish a need for new
standards. In recent years, sustainability has been an issue
of particular concern, and BSI has created leading standards,
such as PAS 2050 a carbon footprinting standard for products
and services, that helps organisations to reduce their carbon
footprint and conduct their business in a more sustainable way.

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22/39Case studies: BSI
As one of the founding members of the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO), BSI has influence
on business standards around the world. For example,
ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems began as a
British Standard and is now used worldwide, with over 90,000
organisations in 127 countries certified to the standard. BSI
also actively promotes the use of British Standards overseas,
working with a range of organisations, such as UK Trade
Investment, to promote the benefits of standards.
“The UK has a key role to play in creating international
standards,” says Marcus Long. “Organisations around the
world respect the intellectual capability that we have here
in the UK, and value the rigour that goes into the creation
of a British Standard. We have a clear grasp of what needs
to be produced and for whom. Even when our standards are
not developed into formal international standards, people
around the world are free to adopt them. For example, this
has happened with BS 8901 which deals with sustainable
events. The UK will continue to develop leading standards,
particularly in the area of sustainability.”
“Sustainability is perhaps the main area of growth in
standards today,” says Marcus Long, Head of External
Affairs at BSI British Standards. “Consumers are increasingly
demanding that the goods and services they buy are delivered
in a sustainable way. Organisations cannot afford to ignore
public demand for transparency and social responsibility,
and are looking for guidance that helps them to deal with the
complex issues that sustainability raises. The standards that
we create focus on motivating management to develop more
sustainable processes, products and services, and this in turn
gives customers confidence that their suppliers have attained
benchmark levels of sustainability.”
Promoting international trade
BSI believes that standardisation is key to promoting
international trade and works with UK Trade Investment
to develop an understanding of how it can support UK
businesses, raise awareness of standards in particular
areas, and make UK businesses more competitive on the
global stage.

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“It’s been relatively easy to incorporate ISO 14001 into our
business. We now recycle and re-use all of the packaging
materials that come into the business, cutting our packaging
costs to almost zero. We also have a ‘switch-off’ programme
in place and link our energy-cost savings to donations to
charity. It’s a real group effort and has brought our team even
closer together.
“For many years, businesses have been under pressure to
recognise their wider environmental responsibilities. Working
with ISO 14001 enables you to achieve best practice – which
is altogether different from simply making sure you’re not
breaking the law.”
Focus on ISO 14001
ISO 14001 helps organisations develop an environmental
management system, providing a framework within which
they can control the environmental impacts of their activities,
products and services, and continually improve their
environmental performance.
Since introducing ISO 14001 into its work practices, Aberdeen
Fluid System Technologies has been able to cut operational
costs and win new business. As Managing Director Gerry
Farrell explains:
“We recognised that introducing ISO 14001 would help us
adhere to our regulatory requirements and improve our overall
business performance. More of our customers and potential
customers only want to work with businesses that comply
with the standard. We were recently awarded a three-year
contract with a major UK North Sea Oil Gas producer which
itself operates to the standards of ISO 14001, and supplier
environmental performance was one of the key selection
criteria used in the contract award process.
Contact details
Company: BSI British Standards
Address: 389 Chiswick High Road
London W4 4AL
Telephone: (+44) 020 8996 9001
Website: www.bsigroup.com

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Accelerating change
The Carbon Trust is supporting
businesses in the UK and around
the world to create a low carbon
economy.
“Our starting point for working
internationally is: does it help deliver
on our mission and deliver value to the
UK,” says Tom Delay, Chief Executive
of the Carbon Trust. “We have found a
strong appetite in a range of countries
including China, the US and Qatar for
the expertise we have developed in
accelerating the move to a low carbon
economy.”
The Carbon Trust was set up by the UK Government in 2001
as an independent company with a mission to accelerate
the move to a low carbon economy. It does this by working
with organisations to reduce carbon emissions and develop
commercial low carbon technologies.
The work of the Carbon Trust ranges from providing
practical and strategic advice, finance and accreditation
to organisations wanting to reduce their energy use and
carbon emissions, right the way through to stimulating the
development of new low carbon technologies and investing
in low carbon enterprises.
To date, the Carbon Trust has worked with thousands of
organisations to reduce over 17 million tonnes of carbon
dioxide, helped business save over £1 billion in energy costs
and channelled hundreds of millions of pounds into carbon
reduction and low carbon technology development projects.
In the last year, the Carbon Trust has been approached by
a wide range of countries and administrations seeking to
harness its unique expertise and experience in the low
carbon sector.
Consulting abroad
In the last year, the Carbon Trust has started working with
the China Energy Conservation Investment Corporation, a
large state owned enterprise with a remit to develop the
clean technology sectors in China, to look at product carbon
footprinting and how to catalyse low carbon innovations.
In July 2008, the Carbon Trust agreed to work with the State
Governor of Florida on low carbon technology innovation and
ways to help reduce emissions in the near term.
In November 2008, the Carbon Trust signed a Memorandum
of Understanding with the Qatar Investment Authority on
a new Low Carbon Innovation Partnership to set up a £250
million Qatar-UK Clean Technology Investment Fund and to
investigate the creation of a Low Carbon Innovation Centre in
Qatar. The fund will seek to make venture capital investments
in clean energy businesses primarily located in the UK.

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Pipeline of opportunity
As moves are made towards a low carbon economy
globally, this will bring huge opportunities for those UK
low carbon businesses looking to grow. The Carbon Trust
can help businesses find their way through the challenges
and maximise the commercial opportunities that this move
will present.
“We are only eight years into our mission to accelerate the
move to a low carbon economy,” says Tom Delay. “We have a
huge challenge ahead of us. We think it will be very important
to work closely with the likes of UK Trade Investment’s
strategy team to build the pipeline of opportunity for low
carbon businesses looking to expand in export markets.
Our specialist knowledge of the technologies plus UK Trade
Investment’s knowledge of doing business in overseas
markets offers low carbon businesses a unique combination of
expertise to help them achieve their commercial objectives.”
Contact details
Organisation: The Carbon Trust
Address: 6th Floor
5 New Street Square
London EC4A 3BF
Telephone: 0800 085 2005
Website: www.carbontrust.co.uk

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Tackling energy challenges and climate change
Consistently rated amongst the
world’s best universities, Imperial
College London is a science-based
institution with a reputation for
excellence in teaching and research
that attracts 13,000 students and
6,000 staff of the highest
international quality.
Since its foundation in 1907, Imperial’s contributions
to society have included the discovery of penicillin, the
development of holography and the foundations of fibre
optics. This commitment to the application of research for the
benefit of all continues today, with current focuses including
interdisciplinary collaborations to improve health in the UK
and globally, tackle climate change and develop clean and
sustainable sources of energy.
The Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Energy
Futures Lab were formed to take on major research and
educational challenges in sustainable technology and the
mitigation of climate change. Since then, they have become
an international focal point for the global energy community.
“The College is one of few places in the world where people
can train in energy across the spectrum,” says Dr Peter Evans,
Operations Manager of the Energy Futures Lab. “We don’t
just deal in the world of scientific theory. We take the results
of our research and use it to meet the needs of the outside
world, together with industrial sponsors such as BP
and Shell.”

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Engaging with industry
Imperial has established a number of routes for getting
its research out into industry. Dr Evans says the real-life
application of research in industry is a top priority.
“To this end, Imperial Innovations was founded to protect and
maximise commercial opportunities arising from research
at the College. Imperial Consultants is a multidisciplinary
consultancy organisation through which our academic experts
provide inventive technology-related services to industry.”
International initiative
Imperial has had a major international focus ever since it
was first set up in 1907 and today 30 to 35 per cent of the
university’s students come from outside of the UK, including
East Asia, India and Europe.
In recent years, Imperial has been active in the Middle East.
It is one of a number of world class universities working
with Abu Dhabi on its Masdar Initiative, a global cooperative
project launched in April 2006 to explore solutions to issues
such as energy security, climate change and the development
of expertise in sustainability.
One of Masdar’s aims is to train people in their region. To this
end, it sponsors students to study at Imperial and then return
to Abu Dhabi to implement what they have learned. To serve
this new market, the university has designed specific courses
that meet needs of the regions with research activities that
are valuable and have important developmental benefits.
Dr Evans says:
“The Masdar initiative is incredibly exciting. It’s not just
of value to the Gulf region but to the whole world. It’s an
example of real joined-up thinking, bringing together leading
research groups from across the world and providing them
with the resources to carry out crucial research aimed at
finding new energy and environmental sustainability solutions.
The first projects are already in development, and a number
of Masdar-funded students have joined our MSc course
in Sustainable Energy Futures.”

MARKETING STRATEGY
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Contact details
Organisation: Imperial College London
Address: South Kensington Campus
London SW7 2AZ
Telephone: (+44) 020 7589 5111
Website: www3.imperial.ac.uk
Looking forward
Dr Evans says Imperial anticipates greater demand
for its expertise in the coming years.
“We are seeing a global trend towards more multi-
disciplinary thinking in tackling major energy and climate
change problems. We need to bring together a wide variety
of experts, and Imperial’s Grantham Institute and Energy
Futures Lab provide a vehicle under which people can work
collectively. The UK is generally recognised as a centre of
excellence for education and learning. Together with our
global reputation for having a strong focus on applying
knowledge to industry, we anticipate that the future
will keep us very busy!”

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The future’s green
UK company Lime Technology
is going back to basics to
promote environmentally
friendly construction.
Lime Technology began as a spin out from IJP Building
Conservation, a UK company specialising in the repair of
historic buildings. Over nearly 20 years of experience in the
industry, founder Ian Pritchett had observed that the materials
used in historic buildings were all low carbon and had little or
no fossil fuels used in their production. He began to wonder
whether people in today’s world would consider using the
same materials in modern day builds.
Having secured early stage funding from IJP Building
Conservation, Ian Pritchett faced two further barriers. The first
was a technical barrier, in that the technology he wanted to
promote was outside the codes of practice. The second was
psychological: he feared that his idea would be seen as too
unconventional for the conservative building sector to adopt.
“Until this point, the construction industry was paying
little attention to its carbon footprint, and was not really
considering the use of ecologically sound materials,”
says Ian Pritchett.
“I knew that in order to make this business a success,
I needed to develop an environmentally friendly range
of cost effective products that beat modern materials for
performance and quality. I would also have to convince
the new-build sector to start thinking with a low carbon
mentality, inspired by the way in which things were done
hundreds of years ago.”

MARKETING STRATEGY
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“We have developed a range of building materials that
use lime as an ecological alternative to cement and petro-
chemical based products,” says Ian Pritchett. “Not only do
we supply the materials, but we get involved with building
design teams to support their ideas and train the contractors
themselves to use the products in the best way.”
Creating sustainable alternatives
Ian Pritchett set about developing low energy building
materials through research projects with Bristol, Bath and
Bradford Universities. The materials are based on unfired
earth, lime binders, natural aggregates and plant fibres.
To date they have developed three core product ranges.
The first is a range of hydraulic lime mortars, plasters and
renders called Limetec, which can significantly reduce CO2
emissions from the brick industry by allowing bricks to be
recycled when buildings come to the end of their useful life.
The second, Hemcrete®, is a system for creating walls,
floors and roof insulation, produced mainly from renewable
resources, which can save around 130kg of CO2 emissions
from each square metre of wall, almost halving the carbon
footprint of a normal new house. In addition Hemcrete® is
thermally very efficient and can dramatically reduce
running costs.
Lime Technology also produces sustainable masonry blocks
made from earth, which can enhance the thermal mass of a
house in order to save energy in use.

MARKETING STRATEGY
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Overseas opportunities
Lime Technology is seeing interest in its products from North
America, Australia and parts of Europe and in time, hopes to
grow its exports to these and other regions.
In January 2009, Lime Technology joined a UK Trade
Investment trade mission to Toronto, Canada to explore
opportunities there. Ultimately, the company hopes to find
a sister company that will help it to get established there.
“Our global success now will depend a lot on the legislation
in different countries,” says Ian. “We have a long way to
go, but we feel there is huge potential for our pioneering
technology. In the meantime, we will continue to support
the Government’s initiatives to make sustainable homes not
just a code of best practice, but a legal requirement. We will
also continue working to change people’s perceptions about
sustainability in building.”
Building for the future
With a compelling low carbon offering, Ian Pritchett then
had to secure buy-in from the construction industry. A turning
point was in February 2005 when the Kyoto Protocol came
into force in the UK. This was followed by a new Code for
Sustainable Homes, launched by the Government in December
2006, as a single national standard to guide industry in the
design and construction of sustainable homes.
The Code has resulted in an increased interest from the
building industry in sustainable building. Lime Technology has
been involved in supplying lime based materials to hundreds
of new building projects, including the new Channel Tunnel
Rail Link Terminal at St Pancras Station, the new National
Trust headquarters and the new Amnesty International office.
Other groundbreaking projects which have used the
company’s sustainable masonry include the new Adnams
Brewery Distribution centre and several private and social
housing schemes.
Contact details
Company: Lime Technology
Address: Unit 126, Milton Park
Abingdon, Oxfordshire
OX14 4SA
Telephone: (+44) 0845 603 1143
Website: www.limetechnology.co.uk

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Next steps

MARKETING STRATEGY
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Next steps
This document marks a milestone in the low carbon international
marketing journey. The journey continues with further
development of the strategy, the creation of activities and joining
up of resources, and with its delivery. Next steps to achieve this
are outlined below.
The Low Carbon International Marketing Journey –
Next steps
Next steps
Spring 2009
Proposition
Partnership
Communications –
reputation building
Delivery
Learning
Low carbon proposition
Core thoughts
Key messages
2 sector pilots
(Transport and Construction)
Supporting evidence
Case studies

MARKETING STRATEGY
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Communications – reputation building
At this stage, overseas customers and inward investors may
know little about the strength and range of the UK’s current
low carbon offer. The aim is to build awareness and interest,
raising the UK’s profile. Low carbon promotional messaging
will be coordinated across the diverse range of sectors and
stakeholders ensuring a consistent image of the UK’s low
carbon offer is projected overseas.
A communication platform using UK branding, marketing
messages, and high quality material will be designed.
A number of stakeholders have been involved in an initial
branding workshop. This work will continue during the next
stage of strategy development. UK Trade Investment has
developed a catalogue of case studies of UK successes in low
carbon and will deploy them in marketing activities.
The strategy will improve the reputation of the UK overseas,
both in terms of the UK’s own internal low carbon economy,
and its low carbon offer to the world. The improved reputation
will offer an additional entry point to markets for UK low
carbon businesses, and attract low carbon focussed investors
to the UK.
The UK’s reputation should be driven at all levels across
government and business, with consistent messaging used by
Ministers, senior government officials, business executives
and leading academics.
Partnership
Members of the partnership from business and
government will:
through advocacy and involvement, catalyse further––
interest from UK businesses in the strategy
shape and direct the future development of the––
strategy – keeping it relevant to UK business and
compelling to overseas customers
work together on marketing activities in the UK––
and overseas
actively promote low carbon solutions in the UK and––
overseas through, for example, exhibitions, overseas
missions, and seminars.
Roles will need to be clearly defined and expectations and
levels of commitment agreed according to partners needs
and interests.

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BESAsia – a UK educational resource exhibition based––
on sustainability in Kuala Lumpur (November 2009)
Technology World - low carbon IT – UK (November 2009)––
NanoForum and Emerging Technologies Conference in the––
UK (November 2009)
World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi (January 2010)––
Environment and Water low carbon mission to India––
(Early 2010)
Ecobuild – a leading international low carbon built––
environment conference in London (March 2010)
Ministerial visits with business to major overseas markets.––
Delivery
Strategy partners will be invited to participate in high quality
marketing activities and events, and as the communications
material develops, to use it to enhance their own advocacy
of low carbon.
In the short term UK Trade Investment will use the
strategy’s evolving low carbon marketing messaging and
material to enhance international activities planned for
2009/10 including:
Green business – transition to a low carbon economy’––
mission, exhibition and conference in Australia
(March/April 2009)
Rail Seminar ‘Technology and Techniques for Sustainable––
Development and Major Projects’ in Taiwan and Hong Kong
(May 2009)
Major international event in the UK promoting low carbon––
solutions (Autumn 2009)
Architecture seminar on sustainable buildings as part––
of the Singapore Design Festival (November 2009)

MARKETING STRATEGY
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Learning
Given the dynamic nature of the business of low carbon it
will be important to ensure that the strategy proposition,
messaging and delivery continues to be relevant, and that
efforts are focused where they will have the greatest impact.
Partners will be invited at least twice a year to help inform
this ongoing review, and to take part in assessing overall
performance against core objectives.
Success of specific marketing activities led by UK Trade
Investment will be measured using UK Trade Investment’s
performance measurement system which will record where
UK companies have succeeded in low carbon international
business. Benchmarking of the UK’s reputation (underway
for other UK Trade Investment led international marketing
strategies) against competitors will also form an important
part of this process.
Looking longer term, for UK Trade Investment the aim is
that delivery of support for UK business across the whole
organisation will deploy the strategy at every appropriate
opportunity. UK Trade Investment will work with partners to
tailor the UK proposition to particular sector needs. Pilots on
Transport and Construction in Spring 2009 are the first steps
towards prioritising sectors and markets where the strategy
will have the greatest impact.
Low carbon presents an innovative way of thinking about
and delivering business solutions in a holistic and effective
way. This means thinking across the boundaries of traditional
sectors. The creation of a green, sustainable city for example
requires solutions from across a range of infrastructure
expertise and sectors, from design and energy technologies
to transport and ICT. The next stage of the low carbon
marketing journey will include looking at how these can be
brought together to effectively use activities to promote
the UK’s strengths across a wide spectrum and gain greater
business benefits.
Commitment to a low carbon future requires organisations
and businesses to operate in an environmental and
sustainable way. UK Trade Investment will consider delivery
options which enable activities to be undertaken in a resource
efficient way; for example virtual networking and use of
electronic media.

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Conclusion: Working together
for a low carbon future
The world is on the edge of a dramatic transformation that
will shape the way business is undertaken, and the way
people live. That transformation has become an urgent
imperative, for the UK and all its trading partners. Rising
to the challenges the shift to a global low carbon economy
brings will not only help the UK prosper but will build a better,
more secure, and more sustainable world.
The partnership brought together under this strategy will
enable effective marketing on a global scale with a consistent
message and one voice for the UK. There is an inspiring
journey to travel; one that the UK Low Carbon International
Marketing Strategy aims to navigate, and one that brings
a spectrum of new opportunities in the shared pursuit of
increased trade and investment in a low carbon future.

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The authors would like to thank all of the individuals and
organisations who made a contribution to the journey so far,
in particular those who have supplied case studies.
This document has been produced with the intention that it is
viewed on screen. We encourage the viewer to consider the
carbon impact of printing this document.
Acknowledgements

Whereas every effort has been made to ensure that the information
given in this document is accurate, neither UK Trade Investment
nor its parent Departments (the Department for Business, Enterprise
Regulatory Reform, and the Foreign Commonwealth Office)
accept liability for any errors, omissions or misleading statements,
and no warranty is given or responsibility accepted as to the standing
of any individual, firm, company or other organisation mentioned.
Published March 2009 by UK Trade Investment
© Crown Copyright URN 09/818
39/39

UK Low Carbon Marketing Strategy

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