The Midlands Energy Hub are working with Local Enterprise Partnerships and local government to gather Carbon Stories. These stories will be promoted as part of the domestic campaign for COP26. The domestic campaign will raise awareness of action on climate and environment in the run up to the International COP26 event in Glasgow. Local Enterprise Partnerships and partners will contact organisations in the Midlands to request carbon stories to be completed using a standard template. Carbon Stories returned to the Local Enterprise Partnership and the Midlands Energy Hub will be checked for accuracy and you may be requested to make or accept minor amendments. You will retain editorial control of your content. Local Enterprise Partnerships will submit 125 carbon stories to be published on a national platform by Carbon Copy. These carbon stories will be selected to show the breadth and variety of activity across the UK. As a legacy of COP26, Carbon Stories may also be promoted on websites of the Hubs and as part of events. Permission for use will be sought as part of initial contact or later. In submitting a carbon story form to your Local Enterprise Partnership, you are giving permission for this to be shared on the website of the Midlands Energy Hub. Carbon Copy owns, manages and maintains the publishing platform, for local communities, companies and councils to upload and share their carbon stories. As registered users of the platform, each Region will have full ownership of all the carbon stories they have submitted that are published on Carbon Copy. Regions can update any of their stories directly and/or remove them at any time if they wish. Stories can be published elsewhere and used as the owner sees fit. Organisations from across the UK can submit carbon stories directly to Carbon Copy using their online form. These will not be checked by Local Enterprise Partnerships but will be proof-read by Carbon Copy. Guidance on preparing Carbon Stories Gathering of carbon stories has been promoted by the Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy. Carbon stories are intended to inspire all aspects of society to make changes to achieve net zero carbon and adapt to climate change, showing ‘what good looks like’. The carbon stories will be aimed at community groups, local authorities, businesses and the public but will be open to all. They will provide an opportunity for knowledge sharing and developing a narrative of how projects are contributing and raising ambition on net zero and other environmental issues such as biodiversity & nature, built environment, circular economy, finance, land use, food & agriculture and transport. The scope and content of carbon stories is further explained within the template form. Carbon Copy has also recommended that carbon stories should:
- Present a project, social enterprise or venture (not an idea or plan)
- Present something that is (or could be) transformative
- Place-based with focus in the UK, rather than national
- Not be greenwashing or create ecological harm or be socially exclusive
The publishing platform locates projects within local authority areas and can be linked to up to five LA areas. There may need to be a compromise made for projects larger than this, e.g led by a combined authority. The Midlands Energy Hub would like to encourage organisations that are submitting carbon stories to consider that the information should inspire other organisations to act, and highlight aspects of the project that are duplicable. Carbon stories should foreground what has been achieved rather than what is planned or is aspired to.