Carbon Trust launches guide to overcoming board opposition

Anyone who has spent any length of time working as a sustainability exec knows that resistance from the board is often the cause of a green project's early demise.

Now the Carbon Trust is seeking to aid executives struggling to convince senior management to support green investments with the launch of a new guide detailing how facilities managers, works engineers, and environmental managers should go about making an effective business case for low-carbon investments.

Developed in response to repeated requests for support from managers, the guide draws upon advice from senior board-level executives and offers step-by-step advice on how to properly research a project proposal, build the business case, and draft and present the final proposal.

"For any business there is a finite pool of resource, and the first priority for any investment will be to drive the business forward," said Hugh Jones, director of solutions at the Carbon Trust. "It is therefore vital for managers to be able to make a compelling and robust business case for their low-carbon project which stacks up against other business priorities and which clearly articulates the ROI [return on investment]."

The guide also sets out the common mistakes made by environmental professionals when asking for investment, including using inaccessible jargon, failing to identify risks, not using proper ROI and financial assessment calculations, and not giving a single clear recommendation.

It has been launched alongside a new online guide that also provides advice on each planning stage for a new project, including defining project needs, developing the business case, selecting a supplier and specifying project requirements.