The Carbon Trust was developed and launched in 1999-2001 as part of the development of the Climate Change Levy (CCL), a tax on business energy use that still operates today. The Carbon Trust was originally funded by around £50m of tax revenue generated from the Levy to help businesses reduce energy costs and therefore offset the additional cost of paying the CCL. The establishment of the Carbon Trust was announced in the 2000 White Paper "Climate Change - the UK Programme" (Cmd 4913). It was launched alongside the introduction of the CCL in March-April 2001. The Carbon Trust was conceived as a business-led, publicly funded organisation at arms length from the government. The early concept, design and governance were carried out in close consultation with business. Senior officials from the Devolved Administrations and the UK department (the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions) would sit on the Trust's Board, where non-business non-executive Directors were in the majority. However the chair, CEO and most of the executive team were appointed from the private sector, most notably the oil and gas and management consultancy sectors. Remit and initial programmes The Trust began its work with three core activities: To ensure that UK business and the public sector contribute fully to meeting ongoing targets for greenhouse gas emissions. To improve the competitiveness of UK business through resource efficiency; and To support the development of a UK industry sector that capitalises on the innovation and commercial value of low carbon technologies nationally and internationally. The need to recycle CCL revenues back to business by reducing energy costs through energy efficiency was a key early driver of the Carbon Trust's work. Its first act was to take over the government's £17m pa Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme (EEBPP) in 2002, a UK-wide information-based measure providing independent advice and support on existing energy efficient technologies and energy management practices. The Trust reconfigured the EEBPP to improve its focus and services to business under a new branding called "Action Energy". The Carbon Trust also initiated work on new and emerging low carbon technologies using a range of programmes and measures including traditional research, development and demonstration support to supporting early stage companies developing new technologies and practices. These activities came under the banner of the "Low Carbon Innovation Programme" Current work The Carbon Trust presents itself as global organisation, with offices in China, Mexico, the