BT SCOTLAND DIRECTOR LAUNCHES YEAR AS PRINCE’S AMBASSADOR FOR CSR

BT Scotland Director Brendan Dick will launch his bid to champion the environment during his year as The Prince of Wales’s Ambassador for Corporate Responsibility in Scotland at a Parliamentary Reception this evening (Thursday 11^th September).

Dick was named as HRH’s newest recruit at Scottish Business in the Community’s annual Awards for Excellence earlier this year. Tonight, he will present his plans for the coming year at a reception hosted by Stewart Stevenson, Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change.

Dick, who leads BT’s climate change, environment and social inclusion programmes in Scotland, has already pledged to use his time as Ambassador to champion the role business has to play in meeting the Scottish Government’s ambitious climate change targets. 

He said: “Businesses increasingly understand the challenges and opportunities that climate change presents. But how do we build business and protect our planet? Is business getting enough support and information to reduce emissions? Is there too much emphasis on the responsibility of business and not enough on the public sector? These are the sort of questions that business people are asking.”

“The Government will want to provide answers that allow businesses to plan for the long term in a consistent framework, and I hope that my year as ambassador will enable constructive dialogue, opening up the lines of communication between Scottish business and Government, and ultimately lead to significant progress in actions and outcomes.”

Tonight’s event, titled “Building Business, Protecting the Planet”, is intended to further stimulate the debate between business and Government on how the two can collectively tackle the climate change issue. Key stakeholders from business, public sector and environmental organisations will come together to hear from Dick and Stevenson on their opinions around sustainable business and its place in Scotland today. Both will address the audience before a concluding Q&A session gives delegates the opportunity to pose burning questions to the Minister on the issue.

Samantha Barber, CEO of Scottish Business in the Community, said “In a survey of delegates at our May Day Business Summit on Climate Change earlier this year we found that while many businesses (65%) understand and support the Government’s 2050 targets, they also feel that they are being left to seek out the ways to achieve this on their own. The overwhelming majority (87%) felt that the Government is not doing enough to educate and guide them in the right direction. As SBC’s Ambassador, we hope that Brendan can act as the voice of Scottish business and help to progress the dialogue between business and Government around one of the most pressing issues facing Scottish business today.”

This evening’s Reception is the first in a series of six ambassadorial events around Scotland to be hosted by SBC and BT Scotland over the coming year. Each event will focus on a specific issue related to the sustainable business agenda.

ENDS

Journalists interested in attending should contact Caryn Robertson, SBC, carynrobertson@sbcscot.com 0131 451 1100 / 07920234642

SBC Press contacts:

Lisa Dransfield LisaDransfield@sbcscot.com

Caryn Robertson CarynRobertson@sbcscot.com

0131 451 1100/ 07920234642

BT Scotland Press contacts:

For further information about BT Scotland please contact Anna Steven or Mitch Reid in the BT Scotland press office on 0800 085 0660.