By Nicholas Earl
Millions of micro-business owners do not believe they can have a positive impact on the UK’s targets for a net-zero economy, according to research from Start Up Loans – which is part of the British Business Bank.
Its findings suggest 40 per cent don’t believe reducing their own emissions will make a difference, while 78 per cent don’t fully understand the term net-zero.
Two-thirds have never sought information on how to reduce their carbon footprint, and only half would value information to help them assess whether reducing their carbon impact would make financial sense for their business
Micro-businesses are defined as any business with less than 10 employees.
The UK has an estimated 5.3m microbusinesses, including many thousands of start-ups.
‘Net zero’ refers to the UK’s commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions over the next three decades to contain global warming to 1.5 degrees.
Richard Bearman, Managing Director of Start-Up Loans, said: “The UK’s start up and micro-business community has enormous potential to contribute towards our national net-zero agenda and it’s clear that there is a job to be done in helping many to understand how important they are to that crucial process. This is especially true amid a backdrop of continued economic turbulence and rising operational costs, which is putting unprecedented pressure on smaller businesses.”
Polling was undertaken by Opinium in early February, from a sample size of a thousand small-to-medium UK businesses.
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