Small and medium-sized businesses – those with up to 250 employees – make up 99.9% of the UK’s business population so will play an absolutely crucial role in the net zero transition and delivering our commitments to tackle climate change.
For a typical small business working out how to measure and reduce emissions may well feel daunting. Indeed, we know that 90% of SMEs want to help reduce climate change and start seeing the associated benefits, but many find it difficult to know how and where to start.
To help businesses on this journey, there is now a Government-backed website with free and wide-ranging advice on ways to lower your emissions, save money on your bills and signposting to currently available financial support.
The UK Business Climate Hub has now been revamped to provide detailed information across a range of topics which can be searched by theme or by sector. Energy use, transport, waste, product labelling, and supply chains are all covered along with many other areas, but you can also ease yourself in by reading the ‘make a start’ page.
When it comes to finance and support, initiatives vary according to your geographical region. This is helpfully broken down and regularly updated on a dedicated page which you can keep referring back to as your journey towards net zero progresses.
Along with finding case studies and upcoming events, businesses can also use the Hub to make the SME Climate Commitment to become part of the United Nations Race to Zero campaign. Joining this global community of organisations will give you free access to high quality resources including a carbon calculator and reporting tool. The latter allows you to easily generate a standardised report that you can show to businesses, customers, banks and investors to demonstrate the action you are taking.
So whether you’re in need of inspiration, information, support, or tools, the UK Business Climate Hub is a great place to start.
Martin Traynor OBE
Small Business Crown Representative, Cabinet Office
Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters