How Government can support SMEs in their mission to be more sustainable

Gareth Dinnage from Net-Positive business Seacourt shares substantial steps on how Government can assist SMEs to achieve Net-Zero goals

SMEs seeing headlines such as ‘Cut carbon emissions by 78 per cent by 2035’, coupled with events this year such as COP26, might be feeling a bit bewildered about where to start in order to halt the climate crisis. More useful, would be practical, everyday steps that businesses can implement themselves. Given that there are over six million SMEs across the UK – that’s 99 per cent of the private business sector, accounting for 53 per cent of the UK’s emissions – the right kind of help will not only drive widespread meaningful change, it’ll also make it happen faster.

There’s been a noticeably increased appetite for sustainability, as we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, and I passionately believe that SMEs are essential to delivering the ‘build back better’ mission via employment, economic prosperity, innovation and social cohesion. And with legislative attention on reducing carbon footprints, there are several key areas where Government can support the backbone of British business, providing some much-needed help towards sustainability.

Reward efforts

First things first: all SMEs need to decarbonise by 2050. That’s a big target – and a big headache for some. But, there are significant levers here that do have a track record in driving change. For example, by adding a 3p tax to plastic bags, consumer shopping behaviour has almost completely changed, with reusable bags now the norm. It can be as straightforward as that.

 Another way to achieve change is by allowing a corporation tax benefit for SMEs who deliver more sustainable practices and take steps to reduce their carbon impact. Government can also legislate to make companies report on carbon impacts. And in fact showing an annual reduction in overall carbon footprint really ought to be a passport to corporate tax breaks; corporation tax could even be graded according to footprint.

In a tough economic climate, these sorts of financial incentives can be extremely impactful. Plus, as incubators of self-funded innovation, many SMEs are also pioneering new processes that can be applied to larger companies. Here at Seacourt, we’ve developed a waterless LED drying printing process called LightTouch® in an effort to reduce our environmental impact. Its revolutionary method is now being employed by others around the world.

Cultivate best practice

Small business owners are commonly influenced by peer-reported success, as we all look to others to show how something is possible. When it comes to this area, I recommend that Government provides a platform for sharing best practice, advice, achievements and reported successes. As an SME leader who has worked hard to be as sustainable as we can be, I too have a lot of learnings to pass on. I support other small businesses in their efforts to be more environmentally responsible, and I love being part of a company’s sustainability journey. I’ve put some of my advice online at Betterbusinesspack.com and broken it down into nine simple steps to transition to a low carbon business. But this is just a start. More practical support is urgently needed.

Set meaningful targets

We have a huge amount of work to do. The first target is a 68 per cent reduction in emissions compared to 1990 levels by 2030 – just nine years away. Government aspiration for this year, however, is to have 100,000 businesses committed to net zero by 2050. Yet this is only 1.66 per cent of SMEs – and frankly unambitious. For SMEs to align with the goals of climate action, a clear roadmap is required. It has taken Seacourt 25 years to become a net-positive business, and that has meant many different changes and initiatives every year. As any SME leader knows, anything is possible when you have a target.

Think beyond elections

The priority level of climate change rises and falls depending on political terms, which are short. The long-term strategic goals that have been set out cannot be solved in the few  years between elections. We need the stability of an ‘always on’ sustainability body that works within the next 29-year time frame, one that is independent and has cross-party support. And this function needs to be committed to the long-term goals to legislate change and ensure targets are met.

Better reporting

As a manufacturer, 95 per cent of our impact is still in our supply chain. Greenhouse gas emissions are categorised into scopes. Scope one covers direct emissions from owned sources. Scope two covers indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity and gas consumed. Scope three includes all other indirect emissions that occur in the supply chain. It’s important, then, for SMEs to measure the impact of all three to have the full carbon footprint picture – and ultimately work out how to reduce it. This will mean that not only will Government be assisting SMEs to reach net-zero, but also reaching further along supply chains, creating widespread and meaningful change.

Seacourt is now one of the most sustainable printing companies in the world. Through a sustainability journey we’ve reduced our carbon footprint to net positive, measured to verify our impact and we give back to support environmental sustainability. All of this is done to create planet-positive printing. And our sustainable journey has been a third of our existence – we did not get to being a net-positive business by firing a silver bullet. We’ve made many, many small incremental steps that have made the difference, year on year, continually moving forwards. I believe the only way to achieve net-zero and halt the climate crisis is for Government to work hand-in-hand with SMEs. We power the UK economy; we can power positive sustainable change too.

For more info https://www.seacourt.net/