The new fund will finance a range of sustainable energy projects for businesses from retro-fitting buildings with more energy efficient heating and lighting to on-site wind power and ground source heat pumps.

The Carbon Reduction Fund is aimed at businesses with a turnover of over £25m and is part of RBS’s efforts to support energy efficiency.

CEO of RBS Corporate bank, Chris Sullivan, said: “Businesses of all shapes and sizes can make significant savings from being more efficient as energy costs continue to rise. We hope to offer businesses both an incentive and a solution to transforming their energy use and carbon footprint.

“We’ve seen huge benefits within our own business here at RBS from introducing energy efficiency measures and the sourcing of energy from renewable sources”.

The UK passed legislation through the Climate Change Act 2008 to cut UK greenhouse gas emissions to 34% below 1990 levels by 2020, and to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

RBS says it has undertaken a number of energy efficiency measures and was ranked in the top 10% of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index earlier this year.

Leigh Stringer

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