SME Climate Hub
grow forward is a proud member of the SME Climate Hub, a global initiative that empowers small to medium sized companies to take climate action and build more resilient businesses.
SME Climate Hub what is it?
The commitment to Net Zero by 2050 is going to effect all businesses in the UK, plus all of the suppliers and supply chain that feed it. The effects will be seen through all industries and the opportunity to take advantage of the forthcoming changes is enormous. In all cases it is better to be on the inside, closer to the changes of legislation and regulation, than last in the race trying to catch up. The SME Climate Hub is a commitment to Net Zero and the start of the journey to reduce emissions and have conversations about how a business might change to limit its impact on the environment. These impacts can be of varying sizes according to business size by SME’s (small medium-sized business, 5.9 million in the UK) have a huge role to play. Relatively the SME’s are better positioned to change, diversify and adapt to be sustainable rather than the large corporates. Although with only a small percentage currently signing up to the Climate Hub there is going to have to be ground swell of activity to tip the scales.
Top reasons to join us:
Grow your business
It can be hard to think as far as 2030 when we’re all building back from coronavirus. But cutting emissions can save your business money and give you a competitive advantage today. By joining us, you can display our logo, attracting the growing number of customers for whom climate change really matters.
Future-proof your business
The UK is changing. For example, by 2030 you won’t be able to buy new petrol and diesel cars and vans in the UK, while zero-emission vehicles could support 40,000 jobs. By joining you will be sent regular updates so you can stay on top of these changes and make sure your business is ready.
Be part of the solution
We all want to create a better planet, but it can be hard to know where to start. Through this UN-backed commitment process, you’re joining an international community of thousands of like-minded businesses. As part of this, you will get regular newsletters and information from government to support you through your journey.
The opportunities
The Climate Hub though is offering information and learning opportunities that are free and allow for a better understanding of the facts and opportunities. Presenting these facts should stimulate diversification and new SME’s to tackle the problems. These problems are through all of our activities, for instance food waste and clothing. The food waste in the US accounts for 2.6% of all the worlds GHG (Green House Gas) and global clothing waste created 1.5 billion tonnes of C02 in 2015 (SME Climate Hub, 2022). The facts and figures are now being created for all industries to measure its impact. These units of measure will be to mitigate and prove a reduction. This action will transcend all types of businesses to make them accountable and this is the opportunity to lead and be ready for the impending changes. Some of the adaptations can be simple like removing lightweight packaging by 40% could contribute to up to 2.7 metric tonnes of C02 for a SME (SME Climate Hub, 2022).
Business impacts
Businesses have varying impacts and measures of change can be through waste management, audits and impact assessments. Creating an Action Checklist, discovering where the businesses emissions are largest is essential to start the journey. This could be in fleet emissions, passenger cars and vans which contributes to 12% (cars) and 2.5% (vans) of the total EU emissions of C02. Trucks and other HGV’s account for a quarter of emissions from road transport in the EU and 6% of total EU emissions (SME Climate Hub,2022). These impacts if mitigated or solutions found to reduce emissions will save businesses costs. The efficiency of fleets is imperative to tackle rising fuel costs and technology like last mile delivery solutions will create more efficiency but human behaviour and recognition of the issue needs to happen.
The importance of SME’s
The awareness of impacts is something that SME Climate Hub is challenging sign-ups to learn about and make decisions upon. There is the long-term goal of Net Zero for all types of business but with SME’s making up over 5.9 million businesses in the UK there is undeniable advantage to tackling this sector. According to the World Economic Forum (2023) SME’s represent globally 90% of all companies and generate nearly 70% of jobs and GDP globally. The WEF (2023) suggest that they are the “bedrock” of developed and developing countries and the “heart of economic growth strategies for emerging markets”.
Costs for SME’s and savings
There are some common costs that all businesses experience and are under increasing cost pressures in their day to day running. Specifically in heating and hot water, which account for over 60% of energy costs (SME Climate Hub, 2022). Lowering the average office temperature by 1*C can energy consumption by 8%. Being more energy efficient is not only applicable for heating and with computer screens costing around £60 per year in electricity, small changes can all add up, depending on the size of the business. The SME Climate Hub also suggests changing to LED lights that can offer substantial savings and also improve working conditions due to the variance in colours and intelligent offering available.
The SME Climate Hub
The SME Climate Hub has great ideas and introductions to how to reduce emissions and these cover a wide range of topics and introduce terms like EUI (Energy Use Intensity). This allows for the discovery of where and how an SME uses its energy and to what scale.This is all linked back to Energy audits and considering collateral impacts or other knock on effects of your operations. In all cases it is better to rank investments based upon feasibility and size in order to keep the focus and complete the project. Finance also has a big role to play for an SME as it is not always available but there is lots of availability and resources, support and contacts through the SME Climate Hub.
References
World Economic Forum (2023) Why big business must support SME’s to achieve economic growth and get to net zero. Available at : https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/01/why-big-businesses-must-support-smes-growth-net-zero/ [Accessed online January 2023]
SME Climate Hub(2022) UK Business Climate Hub. Available at : https://businessclimatehub.org/uk/ [Accessed online December 2022]