‘Going green’ might seem like an expensive and complex process, but the global climate crisis and immediate need to reduce carbon emissions means that the transition to net zero is no longer something businesses have the luxury to ignore.
This urgency is reflected in our recent research, conducted in the wake of last year’s era defining COP26 climate change conference, which found that reducing environmental impact is a priority for almost half (45%) of SMEs in Britain. A further 44% are already actively taking steps to make their businesses greener, proving that change is already underway.
As the UK’s largest business bank, NatWest has a duty to support the country’s diverse and enterprising SME sector in tackling the imperative climate change challenge.
We’re on a mission to help businesses understand their role in the move to net zero and support them in their journey to becoming more sustainable.
Recognise your power - small changes lead to collective action
The scale of the climate emergency can often make it feel as if our individual decisions don’t have the power to make much of an impact, especially when compared to the influence of large organisations.
We’ve always recognised the power of small businesses though, and our recent Springboard to Sustainable Recovery report revealed that UK SMEs could deliver 50% of the UK’s net zero decarbonisation goals as long as they receive the necessary funding, training and access to information.
Installing confidence within your staff and making sure they understand the ability they have to implement real change can be an incredibly useful educational and motivational tool.
Climate change is never far from the current news agenda and with so much information out there, trying to find guidance and advice that’s relevant to your business can seem overwhelming. To help SMEs reach the right support, we’ve created the NatWest Climate Hub – a one-stop portal packed full of tips and resources to support businesses in their climate ambitions.
Invest in your future
We all know that going green is the right thing to do – but what cost does it come at? When compounded with rising inflation and a cost-of-living crisis, it might seem like a luxury that puts an unnecessary strain on your bottom line at a time when budgets are already tight.
Undeniably, any investment in infrastructure comes at a cost but our Springboard to Sustainable Recovery report also highlights the financial benefits of doing so, with UK SMEs able to benefit from a collective £160 billion growth opportunity through investing in areas like energy efficiency improvements.
We want to help SMEs on their journey to becoming greener and have recently launched a new Green Loan, allowing businesses to take advantage funding to invest in eligible clean buildings, energy, transport, and agriculture with no arrangement fee. Green Loans are just one part of a wider commitment to providing at least £100bn of Climate and Sustainable Funding and Financing to customers by the end of 2025.
Stay on track
When helping our personal banking customers set savings goals, we always recommend taking the time to get an understanding of their current spending and spotting opportunities where they can afford to cut back. We apply the same logic when it comes to becoming more sustainable – the key to lowering your emissions is understanding where you’re currently tracking and knowing where you can improve.
That might be easier said than done though, as recent research highlighted that 87% of UK SMEs are unaware of their business’s total carbon emissions – even when they have good intentions. To tackle this crucial gap between intent and knowledge, NatWest launched the NatWest Carbon Tracker app pilot to provide SMEs with an estimate of their carbon footprint.
The app, developed in partnership with carbon tracking expert Cogo, is free to use and is currently being trialled among businesses in manufacturing and transport sectors before being rolled out to all eligible SMEs. This will help to address the need outlined by almost half (46%) of business owners, who stated that they would find an emissions tracker tool helpful.
Unless your business has a specific environmental focus, it’s unlikely that emissions will be within an employee’s daily peripheral. Implementing a tracking app like Cogo and sharing the data and insights– as well as encouraging staff to suggest areas of improvement – is a simple way to make sustainability a central point of discussion among the team.
Train your teams
Alongside providing direct financial and practical support to SMEs, we’re also looking inwardly at our own colleagues and have recently partnered with The University of Edinburgh Centre for Business, Climate Change and Sustainability to deliver 12-week online education programmes.
The initiative will train relationship managers and colleagues in priority roles on ways to help business customers identify the opportunities a net zero economy can create, while helping them become more sustainable operations in the process.
The £1.5m programme forms part of a 3-year collaboration with The University of Edinburgh Centre for Business, Climate Change and Sustainability and will facilitate the delivery of a climate education plan to more than 16,000 people across the NatWest Group by the end of 2024.
We’ve also joined forces with the university’s Edinburgh Climate Change Institute (ECCI) to support more than 500 SMEs across Scotland. Supported by the bank’s 300 Fund, the project will see experts from the ECCI and NatWest business banking specialists work together to help firms identify the opportunities a net zero economy can create while enabling them to develop more sustainable operations in the process.
ECCI has worked closely with the bank to develop the content, which includes assets such as toolkits, online learning, mentoring and peer-to-peer work to provide knowledge and training. Setting up a meeting with a NatWest relationship manager could be the first step in improving your sustainability practices, allowing you to directly benefit from their expertise.
In terms of your own organisation, there are lots of things to consider and try to put climate change on your business agenda. You could make climate change an objective among colleagues and within their roles or consider appointing staff who are focussed on monitoring and improving sustainability targets. Depending on resource, this could be in the form of a new hire or simply granting an existing team member with additional responsibilities. Either way, creating a dedicated green team within your business is a proven way of reducing your emissions.
