Birmingham business leaders praised government proposals for the environment, particularly those for the manufacturing sector as reported in the Low Carbon Transition Plan, published yesterday.

Will Rogers, Policy Adviser at Birmingham and Solihull Chamber of Commerce and Industry said:  "Proposals which will allow manufacturers to better compete on the global stage by employing 'greener' processes can help the struggling sector enormously."

The Low Carbon Transition Plan proposes a £4 million expansion of the Manufacturing Advisory Service to provide more specialist advice to manufacturers on competing for low carbon opportunities, including support for suppliers for the civil nuclear industry.

The report also proposes a new Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre to combine the knowledge, practices and expertise of around 30 manufacturing companies with the capability of universities on manufacturing, processes and skills. 

A survey carried out by the Chamber last month reported that over three quarters of businesses in the West Midlands are recycling.  

Business contribution to a greener environment helped the city exceed its CO2 targets.  From April 2008 to March 2009, Birmingham and the government in the Sustainable Communities Strategy pledged to save 100,000 tonnes of CO2. The achievement was actually 103,039 tonnes of CO2.

Mr. Rogers said:  Moving forward, this can be used as a platform for making greater strides towards a low carbon economy which will help create jobs and industries.

These future proposals must take into account these challenging times however, particularly for the manufacturing sector, which may prevent businesses from fully engaging with the green agenda at this time. 

"There is still a long way to go to secure a green city for the future.  The aim of reducing our carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2026 is a realistic one and we must work together to ensure that these targets are met year after year."