Climate issues ‘insignificant’ for small business

SMEs slow to follow lead of green giants‘Carbon footprints’ may be the latest thing for retailers such as Marks & Spencer and Tesco. But many small- and medium-sized enterprises are not keeping pace, a new survey warns.

Almost half the respondents said the concept of carbon footprinting is “of little or no help” in clarifying the nature of their environmental impact. Similarly, 48% said the environment is either “not at all significant”, or only slightly so, in their strategic decision-making. Which explains why few have clear ideas about dealing with the effects of climate change. Even at the simplest level, ‘acts of god’ such as storms would catch 59% with no contingency plans for continuing to trade, says the survey, conducted by the University of Nottingham’s Institute for Enterprise and Innovation (UNIEI).

However, the rise in communications technology means that SMEs have at least reduced their environmental impact by cutting down on business travel. Some 44% said they were travelling less than five years ago thanks to email. Almost three-quarters said there was further scope for substituting face-to-face meetings with teleconferencing and videoconferencing.

Perhaps they could follow the lead of the green giants here. British Telecom reckons to have eliminated 860,000 face-to-face meetings last year, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by a huge 15% - and saving a tidy £238 million. - Hannah Bullock

24 June 2007

Hannah Bullock