Anjuli Parker, Founder of Sustainable Business Ventures explains how many SMEs are unaware of the free or low-cost resources available to them to help them kick start their sustainability journey.
- Many small business owners have not yet defined their company’s sustainability strategy because they feel they have insufficient knowledge, time, or resources to do so.
- Businesses of all sizes face increasing levels of business risk relating to environmental, social and governance factors with more scrutiny year on year. No action is no longer an option for business leaders.
- Leveraging the free resources available is a great way to start your sustainability journey to determine where your key ESG risks lie and look at how you can use sustainability to drive competitive advantage (whether through cost reductions or creating new revenue streams).
There is no denying that there is increasing momentum driving companies to look at the way in which they operate in addition to the services or products they provide to their clients.
Within the UK, government legislation has been significant in influencing business action relating to ESG. From the 2019 legally binding declaration that the UK would reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions to Net Zero by 2050 or the UK being the first G20 country to mandate reporting in line with the
TCFD’s recommendations for traded, banking, insurance or “high turnover” companies (April 2022). Despite the disappointing decision last year to issue new oil and gas licences, overall, the UK government has been pushing the Net Zero agenda.
Many global banks and other large Corporates have followed the UK Government’s lead, providing sustainability reports (aligned to the TCFD recommendations) in addition to their annual financial statements as well as providing strategies and plans to support their own Net Zero declarations.
As reporting transparency becomes increasingly important, SMEs who provide services or products to large organisations may find themselves needing to disclose their sustainability strategies; emissions and Net Zero roadmaps in the not-too-distant future.
SMEs can benefit from a lot of the heavy lifting that has already been completed by these large organisations with much available online. Whilst there is a significant focus on reducing your GHG emissions as a business and transitioning to Net Zero, when embarking on your business’ sustainability journey, it is important to think up-front to determine the scope of the strategy for your organisation.
One option is to focus purely on the Environmental aspect of your operation (energy and resources use; waste management), at the other side of the spectrum is a purpose-led business which has reviewed all parts of their organisation and operation (i.e. B-Corp). B-Corps review their business looking top to bottom across Environmental, Social and Governance areas.
Banks
Within the UK, the largest banks all have online Sustainability hubs. The links to Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and Natwest can be found at the end of this article, but as one example, Barclays has a number of resources available on their business banking website which you can access whether or not you bank with them.
Barclays Bank Business customers also benefit from additional services such as preferential finance options if you switch to electric vehicles and a complimentary call with a Net Zero Specialist to help explore how you can reduce your emissions. All of this can be found on their website.
Member Organisations
The Federation of Small Businesses is a not-for-profit organisation that supports small business owners and the self-employed in the UK. The organisation provides a range of business services including advice, financial expertise and legal / tax support. In addition, there are lots of useful articles on their website freely available small business sustainability hub but to access specific guides (such as How to get started with Sustainability) you need to be a member. Fees are determined by the number of employees within your organisation.
HSBC advocates Climate Action for Associations and there is a wealth of knowledge here although membership is required to access the tools and resources as well as join the peer-to-peer events and working groups. Fees are determined by the number of employees within your organisation.
Net Zero
Cutting Greenhouse Gases is an essential part of most companies’ sustainability strategies and understandably so given the impacts we are already seeing as average temperatures on Earth increase year to year.
Before signing up to any ‘Net Zero by 2050’ initiative, it is essential to determine your existing emissions to set as a baseline from which reductions can be measured. Emissions calculators can be found at the sites below for no charge.
The UK Business Climate Hub provides practical advice under the “Take Action” section and a useful “Browse by business sector” menu. It also includes advice on waste management and other areas often forgotten about when considering GHG emissions.
On the UK Government website, every year they publish Conversion Factors spreadsheet that enables you to calculate your Company’s carbon footprint. Whilst it is a bit daunting at first glance
there are useful explanations on how to complete each tab within the workbook! The SME Climate Hub also has a more simple carbon calculator specifically designed for UK based SMEs which whilst it only focuses on Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions is a great start.
Other Banking resources
Barclays – https://www.barclays.co.uk/business-banking/sustainability-for-business/
HSBC – https://www.business.hsbc.uk/en-gb/campaigns/sustainability-hub
Lloyds – https://www.lloydsbank.com/business/sustainability.html
NatWest – https://www.natwest.com/business/green-banking.html
SME Climate Hub – https://smeclimatehub.org/start-measuring/
If you need help taking the information you’ve gathered and working out how to prioritise where to focus contact our Founder Anjuli at anjuli@sustainablebusinessventures.co.uk