Small Business Sustainability: Insight & Implications
(with Lauren Tuckerman & Tim Vorley) (link to report)
Small Businesses have a big role to play in achieving sustainability goals. Our latest report discusses findings related to small businesses’ awareness, engagement and action towards reaching the UK Government's goal to be Net Zero by 2050. From this research we can see the complexity of becoming more sustainable as small businesses struggle with completing challenges in their operations. However, there are strong indications that small businesses are already taking action, and that they want to do more.
Key insights include:
business and government on next steps.
(with Lauren Tuckerman & Tim Vorley) (link to report)
Small Businesses have a big role to play in achieving sustainability goals. Our latest report discusses findings related to small businesses’ awareness, engagement and action towards reaching the UK Government's goal to be Net Zero by 2050. From this research we can see the complexity of becoming more sustainable as small businesses struggle with completing challenges in their operations. However, there are strong indications that small businesses are already taking action, and that they want to do more.
Key insights include:
- A large proportion of small businesses are progressing with some form of sustainability activity, including optimising energy consumption and increasing recycling (56%) and reducing use of plastic packaging (53%).
- 69% of businesses were actively lowering their carbon emissions, where 23% said they were fully active in doing so and actively investing in reducing emissions and a further 46% said they are taking some action but could do more.
- 71% of respondents said it was either ‘likely’ (55%) or ‘very likely’ (36%) that they would do more to reduce carbon emissions in the next two years.
- 42% of small businesses are aware of the Government’s Net Zero agenda and 12% are not aware of it, suggesting there is scope to do more to reach small business to engage them in this aspect of sustainability.
business and government on next steps.