SMEs and Sustainability

Sustainability and climate change are common buzzwords in Australia today. We demand action from our governments on these issues and this demand will soon move to the business sector. Clients and customers will demand businesses have sustainable energy use practices and policy measures such as emissions trading and tougher energy efficiency regulations will force business to take action.

Yet according to the CPA Australia Small Business Survey 2007, 52% of small business planned to take no action on climate change, while another 17% intended to do so and had not gotten around to it. Knowledge of emissions trading and preparation for its introduction is even lower. According to a survey by the Australian Institute of Management, between 80 and 90% of small and medium businesses have done no planning to prepare their business for the introduction of emissions trading. Scarcely 40% of businesses are even aware of the scheme's slated start date of 2010.

This lack of preparation and understanding could have potentially catastrophic consequences. With small businesses typically the most sensitive enterprises to cost increases, the expected rise in energy and fuel prices could easily make the difference between profit and oblivion for unprepared SMEs.

Even among businesses that have taken action, most of the measures such as energy conservation policies, purchasing energy efficient appliances or using alternative energy have been taken in a piecemeal fashion. Not one energy conservation measure reported in the CPA survey had been adopted by more than 20% of businesses. This lack of coordination means many businesses are unnecessarily exposed to risk by not incorporating all the options that may be available to their business.

Sustainability requires a wholistic vision of your business - its goals, its market ambitions and its culture - to provide effective and long-lasting solutions. However SMEs often lack the resources and time to fully realise their possibilities to grow in a sustainable way. ClimateEasy can provide you with the tools you need, time, knowledge and innovative thinking, to make your business thrive in this new climate.