Environmental advice for Welsh businesses

Through a dedicated section of the Welsh Assembly Government's Flexible Support For Business website - or via Flexible Support for Business's central advice line - all businesses will now be referred rapidly and directly to the best source of support to help them tackle any problems and seize any opportunities presented by environmental and sustainability factors. The aim of the new service to help enterprises of all sizes and in all sectors across Wales to reduce waste, cut down on energy use and save energy bills, deal effectively with hazardous waste, reduce their environmental impact and become more sustainable. The new service was jointly launched last week (1 May) at two of the Prince of Wales' May Day Climate Change Summit events in Cardiff and Ewloe by Environment Minister Jane Davidson and Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones. Ieuan Wyn Jones said: "The new service will allow companies across Wales to access the best possible knowledge on sustainable and cost-effective business practices, and will contribute towards Wales' ambitions for a sustainable and low-carbon economy. "I very much hope that companies large and small will take advantage of this knowledge and, through their actions, help to make Wales a showcase of best practice for sustainable business." Jane Davidson added: "It is vital that government does all it can to ensure that businesses in Wales will be able to meet the demands of the future and seize the opportunities offered in responding to climate change. We want Wales to come out of the economic downturn better equipped to face the longer term challenges of the future. "This new service will help firms to look at the use of resources and help increase profitability and improve their competitive advantage." This new service is the first component of a draft 'Green Jobs Strategy' now under development by the Assembly Government. The draft Strategy, published for consultation in November, aims to make existing jobs more sustainable and carbon efficient - and to help generate a range of new jobs based on emerging green technologies and products. A key aim of the draft Strategy is to ensure that businesses in Wales will have access to expert advice and technology to make their operations more efficient in an increasingly carbon constrained economy. In addition, the strategy will encourage suppliers of new and innovative sustainable products and services to take advantage of fresh business opportunities as the world becomes more climate conscious.