Small and medium-sized enterprises: hard to reach, data-poor but rich in creative potential as agents of change for decarbonisation

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Mazhar, M.U. ORCID: 0000-0003-2749-6408, Domingues, A.R. ORCID: 0000-0002-2555-3889, Bull, R. ORCID: 0000-0002-4372-3589 and O'Boyle, S., 2022. Small and medium-sized enterprises: hard to reach, data-poor but rich in creative potential as agents of change for decarbonisation. In: European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ECEEE) Summer Study proceedings. European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, pp. 145-153. ISBN 9789198827002

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Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the heart of the UK and EU economies and increasing attention is being paid to their environmental impact. In the UK and EU, the majority of organisations are SMEs (over 95%) employing the a high percentage of people and accounting for around half (43-53%) of greenhouse gas emissions by businesses. The SME sector is rich in diversity and challenges, often 'hard to reach' - both in terms of engagement and policy/practical interventions; and 'data poor' in terms of energy and environmental data available to analyse. 'SME' is a large catch-all term for various business organisations from corner shops, industrial units, factories, theatres and galleries. Even though SMEs face challenges due to their diversity, nature of their business operations and legal requirements, they are often characterised by a shared resource limitation compared to multi-national companies which, due to their size and scale, are often the focus of issues around social and environmental responsibility. As such SMEs are an under-researched sector in carbon management with questions remaining surrounding their environmental management and carbon performance, why they implement changes and the barriers to organisational change for decarbonisation.

This research investigates how environmental and carbon performance is managed by SMEs, their motivations, and barriers to implementing carbon management. The paper presents preliminary research findings developed in the context of an European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Sustainability in Enterprise (SiE) project at Nottingham Trent University, UK, which aims to support SMEs in Nottingham to reduce carbon emissions by enhancing energy efficiency and reducing resource consumption. This research initially adopted a quantitative approach and a questionnaire survey was used to gather data from SMEs' managers. Findings show SMEs are in the early stages of their carbon management journey. Most SMEs do not measure and monitor carbon emissions for decarbonisation, even though many state having sustainability and environmental policies. SMEs show some evidence of implementing environmental and carbon management actions with targets, but these are sporadic and disconnected from their main organisational goals. Some of the barriers identified are the lack of knowledge & expertise and time & resources. Still, SMEs highlight that reputation, market position, and moral obligation can play a key role in starting their journey to take environmental action. This study contributes to mounting evidence that SMEs face challenges around in-house capacity, resources, access to support and data quality for carbon emissions measurement and management. As a result, the study offers recommendations including a policy recommendation based on Learning Energy Efficiency Network (LEEN) model.

Item Type:

Chapter in book

Creators:

Mazhar, M.U., Domingues, A.R., Bull, R. and O'Boyle, S.

Publisher:

European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy

Date:

2022

ISBN:

9789198827002

Identifiers: