Carbon Down

The Carbon Down program has now come to a close. Carbon Down operated from 1 July 2008 until 30 June 2011 with the aim of reducing the carbon footprint of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Victoria.

Through projects and campaigns such as What can I do right now? Choose GreenPower, Paint the Town Green and Carbon Compass, Carbon Down met its targets. Also contributing to the target were more than 45 partnerships and collaborations with Victorian organisations. These included Bendigo Bank, the Collingwood Football Club and Moreland Energy Foundation, which each achieved more than 70,000 tonnes of carbon emissions reduction.

As a partnership program between VECCI and Sustainability Victoria, Carbon Down established a solid foundation that allowed business and government to deliver and learn together. VECCI and Sustainability Victoria recognised that by creating awareness and educating SMEs on how they could take action, there was the potential for businesses to achieve cost savings through cutting their energy consumption and addressing their environmental impact. This provided the business case for developing Carbon Down, which would prepare SMEs for the reduced carbon economy of the future. As a result, funding was secured to develop and deliver the three-year program.

SMEs are critical to Victoria. There are 514,000 across the state, representing more than 95 per cent of all Victorian businesses1. They are the most significant employer, providing 47 per cent2 or 1.2 million of Victoria's private sector jobs. Last year, SMEs contributed approximately 30 per cent of the state's GSP, a total of $90.4 billion3. They are vital to the growth of Victoria's economy.

Over the course of three years, Carbon Down established strong relationships with business and government. Building knowledge, conducting leading research and focusing on innovation became the cornerstones of the program.
Carbon Down has been vital in bringing the Victorian business community together to promote awareness and positive action on meeting the challenge of reducing carbon emissions. It has made significant inroads to cutting the carbon emissions of the Victorian small business community.

We are extremely proud of our achievements and would like to thank all partners, vendors, stakeholders and all of the small businesses that have taken action and helped us achieve our ultimate goal. If you would like more information about the results of the program, visit www.carbondown.com.au or contact VECCI Sustainability Services on 03 8662 5196.
If you are looking for sustainability options for your business, Grow Me The Money is a 12-step program to help your business develop sustainable practices, track resource use and save money.

References:
1 ABS, 8165.0 - Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, June 2007 - June 2009.
2 Government of Victoria, Business Victoria, http://www.business.vic.gov.au/BUSVIC/STANDARD/PC_50004.html
3 Government of Victoria, Business Victoria, http://www.business.vic.gov.au/BUSVIC/STANDARD/PC_50004.html
and ABS, 5220.0 Australian National Accounts: State Accounts.