Net Zero Council pledges SME support
30 April 2024
The Net Zero Council has marked its first anniversary with a commitment to continue driving decarbonisation across sectors and to support smaller to medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
Co-chaired by Energy Security and Net Zero Minister Justin Tomlinson and the Co-operative Group Chief Executive Shirine Khoury-Haq, the Council aims to help grow the economy by driving forward greener practices while ensuring British businesses can benefit from the UK’s clean energy transition.
Having identified the need for businesses to have credible and consistent criteria to build action plans so they can reduce their emissions, the Council has produced Net Zero Business Sector Roadmap guidelines.
It has reviewed industry-led plans representing around 80% of UK emissions to enable businesses in a number of sectors, including water, retail and new homes, to have actionable plans to decarbonise.
The Council has supported the re-launch of the UK Business Climate Hub, providing small businesses with up-to-date and practical advice to reduce their emissions and help them access appropriate resources.
Over the next 12 months the Council aims to bring the industry-led roadmaps together to support further work to maximise decarbonisation opportunities, and to continue supporting SMEs by backing the expansion of the tools and resources provided by the UK Business Climate Hub.
It also aims to increase the public’s awareness of net zero, including providing toolkits for businesses to support engagement with their customers and supply chains.
Martin McTague, National Chair of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said: “While large corporates have had Net Zero plans and teams for some time, it’s small firms that make up over 99% of the UK business population.
“Small firms are keen to do their part to lower emissions, decarbonise and make progress towards net zero, but do so with little support and guidance – however together, they represent the greatest potential to make material difference.
“FSB was a founder member of the Net Zero Council as it offers a great forum to ensure that the diversity of small business experiences and business models are reflected on by government, energy suppliers and financial providers as they work out how to reduce energy use and cut carbon.”
Lex Russell, Chair of the Minerals Products Association, said: “Many sectors are relying on concrete and cement’s roadmap to net zero succeeding to decarbonise their own operations and activities.
“The Net Zero Council has taken a strategic lead in considering such decarbonisation dependencies between sectors as well as potential barriers, as the first steps to mapping an economy-wide route to net zero. This unique insight will be valuable in supporting future policy development to help the UK as a whole reach net zero.”
The UK Business Climate Hub was the subject of an earlier blog post and can be accessed here.
Photo: RoadLight/Pixabay
