79% of UK businesses feel that the government should provide them with more support in order to improve their environmental affairs, a new report from the UK’s leading climate action platform Ecologi has revealed today.
Of the 1,400 business owners and decision makers surveyed, over three quarters (76%) think the government investing in the green economy would be good for business, creating jobs and lowering their running costs, while 73% believe more government support is key to their business increasing its sustainability targets.
As inflation continues to bite, UK businesses are facing a number of barriers when it comes to meeting their environmental goals, ranging from financial constraints (32%) to the cost of tools or technology being too high (28%), to the lack of government support available (25%).
Nearly three in 10 (29%) have found the global economic downturn has had a negative impact on their environmental efforts with 31% still yet to set any sustainability targets. And of those who have, just 27% believe they are on track to reach net zero by 2050. Perhaps as a result, many have turned to the government for help, with nearly half (45%) having applied for funding to help make their business greener.
The ‘green case’ for more support
Of the 79% of Businesses who believe the Government should ‘do more’ to help businesses be greener, there is a clear desire for more state funding (45%) and incentives (44%) to be made available, as well as clearer information (40%) on how to access these. Over a third (36%) feel that it would be helpful if the government was clearer on goals and targets while 35% believe that more education around these matters would be beneficial.
To highlight this, Ecologi has joined forces with the UK Climate Lobby. In the lead up to Earth Day on Monday 15th April they delivered ‘the green case’ – a red ‘budget box’ style briefcase outside parliament to send a clear message to government support businesses on their sustainability efforts.
Dimitri Theocharis, CEO of Ecologi said: “The message coming from UK businesses is loud and clear – the desire to drive sustainably is there, but the full support required to achieve this is not. It’s time for the government to act.
“To drive this message home, we’ve reimagined the iconic red budget box into a ‘green case’ for our planet to parliament. We hope this sends a clear message for the government to work together with businesses to accelerate climate action for a net zero future.”
What’s driving the change?
Encouragingly, the second annual climate commitments report from Ecologi shows that UK businesses understand the importance of becoming more sustainable. The vast majority (76%) see this as a core business strategy and eight in 10 (81%) plan to increase or maintain current levels of investment in sustainability initiatives over the next two years.
When asked what measures their company is currently taking to combat climate change, half (49%) of businesses said they are increasing rates of recycling or reducing energy consumption (48%) while more than a third (37%) have taken the step of using greener suppliers and products. Meanwhile, 35% have been educating employees on best practices to reduce climate change and a further 35% have increased their use of renewable energy.
Sian Conway-Wood, Senior Lobbyist, the Climate Lobby, commented: “The vast majority of UK businesses are striving to become more environmentally sustainable – but many can’t achieve this alone.
“In order to ensure that homegrown businesses can continue to compete both in the UK and globally, the government must invest in a full scale green revolution. Not only for the sake of the planet, but to reduce operating costs, create jobs and boost the economy in both the short and long term.”
When asked what drives their business to make more environmentally sustainable choices:
- Brand reputation came top with three in 10 (29%) saying this was a driver
- A quarter (25%) listed attracting more customers
- 25% listed building climate resilience (i.e. protecting their business from climate risks)
- 22% said offering their business a competitive advantage was a key driver
- 22% said aligning with official guidance or regulations was a driving factor
Full findings from the research are revealed in Ecologi’s new Climate Commitments report, which includes insights for businesses starting out on their climate journey: https://ecologi.com/articles/blog/climate-comittments-report-2024
About Ecologi
Ecologi is the UK’s leading all-in-one climate platform, funding reforestation and high quality climate solutions through our marketplace, subscriptions & e-commerce products, and most recently, supporting businesses on their net-zero journey through our real-time carbon footprinting for business. Through our community of over 40,000 customers, including over 20,000 businesses, we have funded the planting of over 80 million trees around the world, avoided over 3.1 million tonnes of CO2e, removed 5,000 tonnes of CO2 and restored over 10,000m² of habitat. In 2022, we were recognised in the top 5 percent of B-Corps globally, in the Environment and Governance categories, and listed as a LinkedIn Top UK Startup in 2023.
About the Climate Lobby
The Climate Lobby is the UK’s first climate-focused lobbying group, aiming to encourage government to make the changes needed to meet both the 2030 and 2050 deadlines, and to make those changes work for the average person on an average day, concentrating on realistic and viable changed that can be made to existing law within the mainstream political spectrum. The Climate Lobby supports businesses to have a voice in parliament and affect the changes they need for their business and the planet.
About the survey
In March 2024, Ecologi surveyed 1,400 business owners and decision-makers, in businesses with 1-1000 employees spanning all regions of the UK and 28 professional sectors in conjunction with market research agency OnePoll.
About ‘the green case’
The green case is a collective call, a rallying cry from SMBs to the Government. The case represents the concerted efforts from Ecologi and SMBs – great things happen when we come together. As businesses face the greatest challenge of the lifetime, businesses need to work together to drive impact on a massive scale urgently. The case demonstrates the appetite SMBs have to achieve more in offsetting their climate impact and reducing UK emissions overall, further driving home our strategy of greener, better, faster, stronger.