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Almost £5 billion of funding is available to help UK businesses become greener

This is part of the UK government’s commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Many government schemes offer loans, grants or subsidised energy-saving measures to support small businesses with reducing their impact on the environment. They normally cover things like:

  • energy efficiency measures – such as revising production processes
  • the upfront costs of investing in energy-efficient equipment
  • waste management and reduction initiatives
  • sustainable development initiatives.

The energy regulator Ofgem provides a guide to help you find green grants that work for your business

Electric vehicle schemes

There are several government schemes to help businesses and landlords provide charge points for electric vehicles.

Find out more about government charge point schemes.

Green Heat Network Fund

The Green Heat Network Fund is a capital grant fund that supports:

  • the commercialisation and construction of new low and zero carbon heat networks (including the supply of cooling)
  • the retrofitting and expansion of existing heat networks

It aims to develop and grow the heat network market and to address some of the challenges of decarbonising the UK’s heat sector. 

 Visit www.gov.uk/government/publications/green-heat-network-fund-ghnf for more details. Applications are currently closed but further funding rounds are expected.

Woodland creation and management

There are several funding schemes for woodland creation and management. These are run in conjunction with Forestry England, the Forestry Commission and others.

Find out more about woodland schemes

Accordion 4: Climate change levy

This is not actually a grant, almost the reverse. But it's definitely another way of cutting overall costs and an incentive to go green.

The Climate Change Levy is a tax charged on the energy that businesses use. It’s intended to encourage businesses to be more energy efficient. Basically, the more energy efficient your business is, the lower the Levy you pay.

Go to the government's Climate Change Levy pages for more information.