by Shane Henson — January 13, 2014—The National Business Initiative (NBI), a voluntary group of national and multinational companies working toward sustainable growth and development in South Africa, recently launched its Private Sector Energy Efficiency Project, an initiative aimed at encouraging all South African businesses to understand their impact on the environment and to participate in energy efficiency initiatives.
The NBI was awarded £8.6 million by the U.K. government through its Department for International Development (DFID) to implement this countrywide program of support for energy efficiency improvement to the private sector. To help advance the project’s goals, the NBI is also receiving support from the U.K.-based Carbon Trust, an independent company working to accelerate the move to a sustainable, low-carbon economy.
According to NBI CEO Joanne Yawitch, through the project, NBI is targeted to work with about 60 large South African companies and just over 1000 medium-sized companies to support the awareness and uptake of best practice in energy management and energy efficiency by South African industry. The project will have three levels of service: remote advice for small businesses, technical face-to-face support for medium-sized companies, and longer-term support of energy management and strategy for large companies.
She says companies that do implement effective energy efficiency improvements in their business can improve business productivity, competitiveness and innovation as well as gain access to energy efficiency financial subsidies and tax incentives.
“Supporting business to implement energy efficiency is a win-win for the economy and for the environment. It takes costs off the bottom line of business, making them more competitive, and also plays an important role in reducing carbon emissions,” said Tom Delay, chief executive at the Carbon Trust. “We are delighted to support NBI in the development of this ground-breaking project and are pleased that our 10 years of experience implementing business energy efficiency in the U.K. is being put to good use in South Africa.”
